Art Fund’s campaign to save Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage for the UK is motoring along with £2.6m raised so far towards the £3.5m needed to buy the seaside residence in Dungeness and establish a programme to conserve and maintain the building, its contents and its garden. Now Jarman devotees can buy a very special tribute piece donated by the UK costume designer and three-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell, who worked on Jarman’s 1986 film Caravaggio. Powell came up with the ingenious idea of asking industry figures—in front of and behind the camera—to sign a cream calico suit she wore to the Critics’ Circle, Bafta and Oscar ceremonies. Celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Laura Dern and Renée Zellweger duly obliged; Tilda Swinton, another Jarman acolyte, was the final signatory, putting pen to lapel yesterday at Phillips auction house in London where the suit is on public display. The clothing item is now available online through Phillips (bids accepted until 11 March). “Derek wasn’t just an old friend but a mentor,” Powell says. “This is about protecting his legacy; it’s the biggest thank you I could ever have given Derek.” To bid, go to: https://www.phillips.com/auctions/auction/UK090320
Diaryblog
Leonardo DiCaprio and Laura Dern sign Sandy Powell's suit for Derek Jarman appeal
5 March 2020