Polaroid at Philips de Pury

Philips de Pury & Company was shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night—not for paintings, or sculptures, or furniture, but for Polaroid. The iconic 75-year-old brand, which recently partnered with Lady Gaga to create the GL10 Instant Mobile Printer, gave the new gadget to a diverse group of artists and tastemakers like Gaga, Steven Klein, James Franco, and…Tyra Banks. The results, which ran the gamut from striking single images (Paulo Roversi) to a dress (Maripol), were all up for auction with the proceeds going to FreeArts—to benefit children through the arts.

Of the 104 lots, nine were live-auction items, and the charming auctioneer rhapsodized, to the best of his ability, about each—working particular magic with a series by Brett Ratner, “We’re all guilty here: Rush Hour, X Men, special edition DVD sets with the Wolverine claw…”—though for the most part, only his gavel could be heard above the roar of the crowd. A particular hush did fall when lot 7, by Patrick Demarchelier, came up. What was Demarchelier’s favorite lot? “I like this one,” he said with a smile in his gloriously thick French accent, gesturing at his enormous installation of hundreds of snaps of his most iconic images. And the audience agreed—it blew the other lots out of the water, selling for $37,000.

Gaga’s lot, a GL10 covered in spikes and appearing to “print” gold chains, failed to break the $2,000 mark. Perhaps her Little Monsters would have bid more had she made an appearance. Though a male latecomer outfitted in a purple spandex bodysuit (that left little to the imagination) and a bedazzled helmet with visor did draw some Gaga whispers. And after her VMA performance as her male alter ego Jo Calderone, perhaps this latest incarnation wasn’t so out of the question.

Photos: Tracey Wilson