Oprah Winfrey, the US talk show supremo, is a frequent guest of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and a great supporter of his flourishing charities that support orphaned children and people living with Aids. So when limited lithograph editions of his Robben Island prison sketches, each signed by the 86-year-old former prisoner-for-life and Nobel Peace Prize winner, went on sale she snapped up a set for $200,000 (�150,000).
But, this week, Oprah is contemplating the possibility that her Mandela sketches � which, frankly, are way short of Picasso class � may be worthless.
In a dispute that is rocking South Africa and the art world, the anti-apartheid icon will this week serve writs on his personal lawyer of many decades, Ismail Ayob. They will allege that Mandela�s charities have been robbed of at least �2.6 million by his former friend, who was mysteriously sacked last year, and that the retired South African President�s signature has been forged on countless lithographs.
Details here from the Sunday Herald.