Hugh Hefner to hold art auction

on Monday,November 08,2010 20:11

Playboy has been considered one of the more risqué magazines of the past century, but founder Hugh Hefner has always had a different opinion than his critics on what his creation represents. Now, the Playboy editor-in-chief may finally be able to shift the perception of his empire with an art auction, according to the Associated Press (AP).

On December 8, Hefner plans to hold an auction titled, "Year of the Rabbit." Of the items to be sold off include an original Salvador Dali piece and another 125 collectibles. More than a dozen contemporary pieces, 24 cartoons and 80 photographs make up the bunch. Snapshots of starlet Marilyn Monroe and musician Duke Ellington are included in the collection.

"Before Playboy and a few other places, commercial art was essentially Norman Rockwell, very realistic," Hefner told the AP. "And we introduced into commercial illustration the whole notion of everything from abstract, to semi-abstract, to stuff that you found on a gallery wall."

Art-related jobs are projected to increase by 12 percent over the next eight years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.