In 2003, Interview magazine publisher and Greenwich polo king Peter Brant commissioned a statue by nutty Italian-American artist Maurizio Cattelan. The art piece was to be of his wife, Stephanie Seymour, and she would be nude clutching her breasts, jutting out like a figurehead on a boat. Cattelan agreed, and went to work on the statue. It is called “Stephanie,” but it’s better known by its wry nickname: “Trophy Wife.”
Brant and Seymour have apparently reconciled their nasty, thievery-inducing breakup and are back to being happily betrothed. But this can’t be too comforting for them: Gatecrasher reports that a picture of “Stephanie” will be gracing the cover of the Nov. 8 art sale catalogue “Carte Blanche” put out by the Phillips de Pury & Company. Cattelan made three casts of the statue — Brant still has the commissioned one — and a version is being put up for auction. The statue could sell for more than $1.5 million.
A source “close to Brant and Seymour” told Gatecrasher “They were well aware that there was more than one piece being made when they commissioned the artwork.”
Cattelan made a splash last month when a statue of his entitled “L.O.V.E.” was placed in front of the Milan Stock Exchange. “L.O.V.E.” is an enormous hand giving its onlookers the middle finger.
nfreeman@observer.com
