The item, which is sold 28 times more than its pre-sale estimate, depicts the late Nirvana legend playing his beloved guitar, and includes the words, 'I don't know how to play and I don't give a hoot!'
- Jun 15, 2021
AceShowbiz - Kurt Cobain's caricature of himself has sold for a whopping $281,000 (£199,000) at auction - 28 times more than its pre-sale estimate.
The late Nirvana legend's self-portrait, in which the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" rocker is seen playing his beloved guitar, includes the words, "I don't know how to play and I don't give a hoot!" And it's signed, "Kurdt Kobain Rock Star [sic]."
The unique item well exceeded its estimated valuation of $10,000 (£7,000) when it went under the hammer as part of Julien's Auctions Music Icons sale over the weekend (June 11 to 13).
Kurt, who died by suicide in 1994, gave the drawing to Jacque Chong, who photographed the grunge band on its promotional tour of seminal album "Nevermind" in Singapore in 1992.
The caricature sale comes after strands of the music legend's hair sold for $14,145 (£10,005).
Cobain's blond tresses went under the hammer as part of the Amazing Music Auction by Iconic Auctions. The hair had been kept since Nirvana's tour in 1989 in support of their album "Bleach".
Kurt's pal Tessa Osbourne and a fan had given Kurt a haircut in Birmingham, England, and she gave a single lock to Seattle artist Nicole DePolo following the death of the musician.
The listing read, "This one-of-a-kind artefact is entirely fresh-to-market, and accompanied by an impeccable lineage of provenance including images of Kurt posing with the woman who cut this hair, scissors in hand, and a fantastic shot of the hair actually being cut!"
"She provided the original bag with handwritten provenance note, '29/10/89: Tess cut Kurt's hair in Birmingham, England, 27 Holy Rd., Handsworth, Birmingham B202BU', which is retained with the original complete lock."
The lowest bid for the lot was set at $2,500 (£1,800).
Last year (2020), Kurt's acoustic guitar from Nirvana's iconic 1993 "MTV Unplugged" in New York performance sold for a record-breaking $6 million (£4.2 million) at auction. The instrument ended up breaking the record for the most expensive guitar sale. The lot came with the guitar case Kurt used, a bunch of guitar strings, picks and a "stash" bag.
