Showing posts with label Good Times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Good Times. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2022

‘Sugar Shack’ Painting Featured In ‘Good Times’ Sitcom Sells For $15.3 Million

Ernie Barnes’ 1976 painting The Sugar Shack, familiar to millions of TV viewers for its use during the closing credits of the ’70s sitcom Good Times as well as serving as the album cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1976 release I Want You, sold at auction in New York City last night for $15.3 million.

According to Christie’s auction house, the sale set an auction record for Barnes’ work by more than 27 times the artist’s previous record, and was 76 times the high estimate of $200,000. The 10-minute auction drew 22 bidders before Houston-based energy trader Bill Perkins.

“I would have paid a lot more,” Perkins told The New York Times following the auction. “For certain segments of America, it’s more famous than the Mona Lisa.”

During the fourth season (1976-77) of the smash Norman Lear-produced sitcom Good Times, The Sugar Shack was used during both the show’s opening and closing credits, and in subsequent seasons was featured in either opening or closing credits. During the show’s fifth and sixth seasons, the painting appeared in the family apartment of the Evans family, suggesting it was the work of eldest son and aspiring painter “J.J. Evans,” played by Jimmie Walker.

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]