Nearly 200 artworks by the US president’s son were reportedly destroyed amid devastating wildfires
The wildfires raging across Southern California have destroyed nearly 200 artworks by Hunter Biden, son of outgoing US President Joe Biden, the New York Post (NYP) reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to the Biden family.
The paintings, valued at “millions of dollars,” were reportedly being kept in storage near the home of Biden’s attorney Kevin Morris in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that suffered the most severe damage from the disaster.
Georges Berges, who used to represent Biden’s work and organize solo shows of his paintings in Los Angeles and New York, told the NYP that Morris had purchased $875,000 worth of Biden’s artworks via his Soho-based gallery. Berges added that many of the paintings depict flowers on Japanese paper.
The tabloid noted that the “controversial” art pieces have been priced as high as $500,000 each, but emphasized that Berges said that the average price was closer to $85,000.
The wildfires that erupted in the region last week have caused widespread devastation, claiming at least 25 lives. The flames have laid bare more than 40,000 acres. Over 12,000 buildings have been destroyed, while entire neighborhoods were left literally in ashes. According to a preliminary assessment, the material damage inflicted by the disastrous fires could cost as much as $275 billion.
Last week, the Daily Mail reported that the Malibu-based house of the outgoing president’s son had been completely destroyed by the sweeping fires. At the same time, the US president said that his son had received a notification that the house was “probably burned to the ground,” but added that it appeared that it was still standing.
The president’s son had rented the property for $15,800 per month and used the idyllic space to work on his paintings, the Mail report claimed. Also destroyed was a neighboring house rented by Hunter’s Secret Service detail at a monthly cost to the US taxpayer of $16,000, the newspaper added.
The first private viewing for Biden’s paintings was set up by Berges in Los Angeles in the fall of 2021, followed by an exhibition in New York. Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, a Los Angeles real estate investor who contributed more than $200,000 to Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, was among the buyers of Biden’s artwork, sparking concerns about conflict of interest and a lack of transparency.
Biden’s artworks and gallerists willing to exhibit and sell them prompted charges of nepotism and raised major ethics concerns regarding art collectors’ motives and the interest in Hunter’s connections. The works have also triggered criticism about his lack of arts credentials as he has no formal fine-arts training.