Michael Jackson couldn’t resist breaking the bank to snatch up this angelic portrait of “Cupid the God of Love” during a $1.3 million bidding spree at Sotheby’s last fall – but now he’s refusing to pay up, court papers charge.
After asking for its cash more than 20 times, the auction house lost patience yesterday, slapping the Freak of Pop with a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court demanding he cough up the dough.
But the increasingly erratic Gloved One – who recently caused an uproar by dangling his baby over a balcony – told Sotheby’s he doesn’t want young Cupid hanging around his house because the painting no longer fits into his collection, the suit says.
At an auction in New York last Oct. 29, Jackson bid more than $1.3 million for two 19th-century paintings by French artist William Adolphe Bouguereau.
He was particularly enamored with the 1894 piece “L’Amour A L’Epine,” which shows an adolescent Cupid removing a thorn from his foot.
Auctioneers expected the oil-on-canvas painting to fetch between $300,000 and $400,000, but Jackson – reported to be having financial problems – bid $504,500, Sotheby’s vice-president Diana Phillips told The Post.
He got a better deal on the second piece, “Les Agneaux,” successfully bidding $724,500 for the depiction of a woman holding a baby and a sheep. Sotheby’s predicted it could go for as much as $1 million.
But 13 weeks later, the auction house is still waiting to see Jackson’s cash.