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image of the year
The Tom of Finland Foundation has selected this piece of art by its namesake artist, TOM OF FINLAND, as the image to represent the Foundation in print this anniversary year. It will also be exhibited at Foundation events.
 This preliminary drawing was kept by the artist in his desk drawer until he turned it over to the Foundation to safeguard. It has been stored with a selection of other drawings by the artist since that time and is now finally being released for the public to see and have an opportunity to own. The Foundation is placing this piece in an ongoing auction from now until the close of our Erotic Art Fair here in Los Angeles at which time the sale will be awarded to the highest bidder. The opening bid for this work is $3,500 and bids are accepted in $100 increments.
At the time the Tom of Finland Foundation was being established, Touko Laaksonen (aka TOM OF FINLAND) brought to America with him a large body of work including over 1,000 rough sketches. His business partner, Durk Dehner, was impressed with the quality of what he saw. He convinced the artist to show them to Feature Gallery in New York in hopes of its representing his rough drawings in addition to his finished works. Soon after that, the work of TOM OF FINLAND was being exhibited and sold until the artist's death in November of 1991. His work continues to sell and a finished drawing that may have had a price tag of $350 in 1978 can be seen on the market today starting at $9,000.
The Foundation chose 500 rough drawings, studies, and preliminary sketches that the artist brought over to keep as part of its Permanent Collection. From the remainder there are selected pieces that have been, and are being released individually, on a periodic basis, for sale. These sales are handled by Cliff Benjamin's gallery, Western Project, located in the Culver City area of Los Angeles.
Bids are accepted by post or e-mail or you may call the Foundation headquarters at 213.250.1685 for
more
information.
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