Art critics baffled after Trump's black-marker sketch fetches $16,000 at auction

New York: A black-marker sketch made by US President Donald Trump back in the 1990s has fetched $16,000 at an auction on Thursday night. Most art critics, quite understandably, are baffled at what they term as a 'kindergarden-like squabble' could fetch big bucks.

The 12-by-9 sketch of the Empire State Building was made by Trump in 1995 at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. It fetched $100 at the time for a charity auction. Put up once again for auctioning on Thursday night, the drawing managed to exponentially up its worth.

SOLD for $16,000! A sketch of the @EmpireStateBldg by @realDonaldTrump! A portion of the proceeds from this lot will be donated to NPR. pic.twitter.com/wedW0oTbKe — Juliens Auctions (@JuliensAuctions) October 20, 2017

While Juliens Auctions, where the event took place, has said a portion of the amount will be donated for charity, many are questioning the hefty tag and say it is only because the real-estate tycoon has managed to become the president of the country. “What’s most interesting is that Trump's general speaking style of big gestures and no details extends to his drawing skill,” David Coleman, a freelance writer and critic, told Newsweek.

Interestingly, the Empire State Building's sketch is not the first Trump artwork to have fetched big bucks at an auction. Neither is it his worst. Perhaps an even more amateur drawing of the Manhatten skyline by Trump in 2005 was sold for over $29,000 at an auction in Los Angeles earlier this year.

The starting price of the framed sketch was put at $9,000.