An art auction in Jersey City is selling a fake ‘Naked Trump’ statue for up to $30K

One of the original statues on display in San Francisco via torbakhopper’s Flickr

Fake news is always surrounding President Donald Trump and so is Stormy Daniels. Put those two together (fake & naked) and you’ve got the most recent news: an auction house based in California is selling a fake “Naked Trump” statue, unbeknownst to them. Reports out today claim one of the five original “Naked Trump” statues is going up for auction on May 2 at Julien’s Auctions at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City. But a representative from INDECLINE, the West Coast “Activist Art Collective” that created the artwork, adamantly denies that this is an original.

The auction house announced:

A highlight of the sale will be the last standing “Naked Trump” statue, created in 2016 by the West Coast anarchist collective INDECLINE. The sculpture depicting Trump in the flesh titled “The Emperor Has No Balls” is the last statue remaining not vandalized or destroyed. The series of controversial and explicit statues appeared in public spaces in New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Cleveland and Los Angeles weeks before the then-presidential nominee was elected. The piece is estimated to sell between $20,000-$30,000.

But INDECLINE says all of the original five statues were sold in 2016 and this current statue, a replica, was sold to Mana Contemporary for $7,000 on September 28, 2017.

“We made millions of these from this mold,” an INDECLINE representative, who asked to remain anonymous, told 6sqft. Mana Contemporary bought two replicas from INDECLINE and put them each on top of their two gallery rooftops, one in New Jersey and one in Miami.

“Both were stolen immediately, though the Miami one was returned. I think the owner was the one who did it since he was the one who called in the press and got all the attention,” the representative added. Julien’s has denied these claims.

A price tag of $20,000 -$30,000 is a lot to pay for a fake. But if you’re just dying for a replica, you can purchase a “Limited Edition Collectible Figurine,” 3D replicated, 1/12 (6.5 inches) scale model for $60 on INDECLINE’s site.

RELATED: 

• Donald Trump’s sketch of the Manhattan skyline sells for $29,184 at auction
• Trump’s NYC properties no longer considered ‘luxury’
• In heated legal battle, condo board says it has the right to remove Trump’s name