The House of Rolls-Royce marks 115 years of luxury with spectacular Red Phantom commission to benefit the global AIDS charity (RED). Rolls-Royce partners with acclaimed contemporary artist Mickalene Thomas who will create a unique artwork and custom wrap using Phantom as her canvas for the winning bidder. The exclusive online auction launches 04 December 2019 with Sotheby’s and RM Sotheby’s. Bidding for the Red Phantom will be hosted on sothebys.com and will close on 13 December. The Red Phantom will be revealed during a gala event at One Thousand Museum during Art Basel in Miami Beach.
The House of Rolls-Royce today revealed images of a Bespoke Red Phantom, commissioned to benefit (RED), the global charity and its fight to end AIDS. First sketches of the red-themed creation were revealed by the world’s leading luxury manufacturer seven months ago at the Sotheby’s Galleries in New York City. The Bespoke Phantom will be unveiled at a gala event at the One Thousand Museum in Miami, on Wednesday 4 December, as Sotheby’s and RM Sotheby’s launch an exclusive online auction which will run until 13 December 2019 on sothebys.com. Proceeds from the auction, after costs, will benefit (RED)’s fight to end AIDS.
The successful bidder will have the unique opportunity to collaborate with one of the world’s most respected contemporary artists, Mickalene Thomas. The artist will create a custom wrap for the exterior of the motor car, based on an original work of art inspired by the Red Phantom for the collector. When the digital hammer falls, the ultimate bidder will be the proud owner of the Red Phantom, a personalized artwork by Ms. Thomas and the honour of having supported (RED) in its mission.
“It is an honour and privilege to present this one of a kind commission created at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England,” commented Martin Fritsches, President and CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Americas. “Every member of our team is deeply inspired by this world-class commission and equally by the importance of the cause that it was created to support – (RED)’s fight to end AIDS. We are proud to partner with Mickalene Thomas, Sotheby’s and RM Sotheby’s to achieve an outstanding result from this auction.”
Jennifer Lotito, Chief Operating Officer, (RED), commented, “We’re so grateful to Rolls-Royce for donating profits from the Red Phantom to help with the fight to end AIDS. We need all forces mobilized against this pandemic which is the leading cause of death among young women. We also want to thank Mickalene Thomas for her creative genius and support of this auction to help the Global Fund eradicate AIDS.”
“I am honoured to collaborate with such an esteemed group of partners as (RED), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Sotheby’s and RM Sotheby’s in the global fight to end AIDS. To be able to share my creative vision in a way that impacts such a noble cause feels powerful and inspiring to me and I am sure to the ultimate winning bidder who is coming together with these amazing organizations to change the world,” said Mickalene Thomas. 
Rolls-Royce Red Phantom’s exterior hue features a Bespoke finish of Crystal over Magma Red. Particles of crystal captured in the final layers of finish creating a luxurious luminescence. The handcrafted Bespoke leather interior in Brilliant Arctic White is offset by bright Mugello Red highlights overseen by the iconic and colourful Mugello Red ‘Shooting Starlight Headliner.’ Housed within a single-piece glass fascia and extending across the instrument panel, the Gallery design, ‘Red Regatta Sails,’ is constructed of Bespoke Mugello Red leather. 
Please visit the exclusive online auction at sothebys.com from 4-13 December to bid on this unique Rolls-Royce Red Phantom.
About (RED)®
(RED) was founded in 2006 by Bono and Bobby Shriver to engage businesses and people in the fight against AIDS. (RED) partners with the world’s most iconic brands that contribute proceeds from (RED)-branded goods and services to the Global Fund.
To date, (RED) has generated more than $600 million for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to support HIV/AIDS grants in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zambia. 100 per cent of that money goes to work on the ground – no overhead is taken. Global Fund grants that (RED) supports have impacted over 140 million people with prevention, treatment, counselling, HIV testing and care services. For more information, please see www.red.org
About the Global Fund
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in more than 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, we are challenging barriers and embracing innovation.
About Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971, Camden, New Jersey) is best known for her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel. She makes paintings, collages, photography, video, and installations that draw on art history and popular culture to create a contemporary vision of female sexuality, beauty, and power. Blurring the distinction between object and subject, concrete and abstract, real and imaginary, Thomas constructs complex portraits, landscapes, and interiors in order to examine how identity, gender, and sense-of-self are informed by the ways in which women are represented in art and popular culture.
Thomas holds an MFA from Yale University (2002) and a BFA from Pratt Institute (2000). She has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions around the world, including at the Aspen Art Museum; The Bass, Miami; Brooklyn Museum; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art; L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Monaco; and Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus. Thomas also has an immersive two-story installation on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art through May 2021.
Mickalene Thomas is currently the subject of solo presentations at The Bass, Miami, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Contemporary Art Center New Orleans. Her work is held in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Brooklyn Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as the Hammer Museum and Smithsonian American Art Museum, among many others. For more information, visit www.mickalenethomas.com.
About Rolls-Royce Red Phantom
This very special Red Phantom has been designed to benefit (RED)’s fight to end AIDS. Proceeds from the auction, after costs, will benefit the global charity.
The commission design, by the world-renowned Bespoke Design Collective in Goodwood, England, Home of Rolls-Royce stands alone as a natural authority. Designers have carried the powerful Red theme throughout the design in a subtle and luxurious style. This Red Phantom makes a statement, especially upon its arrival.
The Bespoke colour is Crystal over Magma Red. Particles of crystal have been captured in the final layers of finish to give it a luxurious luminescence. Recently created by the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective, the finish is comprised of five layers, each hand-polished for more than five hours. The vehicle’s wood veneers were expertly selected and finished by hand with six coats of lacquer to ensure a perfect finish.
The handcrafted Bespoke leather interior is created from 9 hides of hand-selected and drum-dyed leather with a colour scheme of Arctic White with Mugello Red highlights. And overhead the new owner will enjoy a newly designed icon of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, a Mugello Red Shooting Starlight Headliner with 1,600 fibre optic lights extending the entire length of the interior.
The new Rolls-Royce Red Phantom introduced a Bespoke opportunity previously unseen in luxury motoring to showcase a new level of interior artistry and craftsmanship. Housed within a single-piece glass fascia and extending across the instrument panel in the Red Phantom, the Gallery delivers visual and emotional elements that are unique to Phantom. The Gallery is constructed of Bespoke Mugello Red leather design entitled ‘Regatta Sails’ assembled in a cleanroom environment. This commission features custom treadplates commemorating the 115th Anniversary of the world’s premier name in luxury
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