The original artwork for the Jackson 5's VICTORY album is to be auctioned off in October (09).
The Michael Whelan piece, which was unveiled for the first time at the Comic-Con event in San Diego, California at the weekend (24-26Jul09), will go under the hammer at the same Profiles in History sale which will feature one of Michael Jackson's famous illuminating white gloves.
Dubbed "the single most historic piece of Michael Jackson album art", Whelan's cover art, which Michael Jackson commissioned him to paint in 1984, is expected to fetch up to $60,000 (GBP40,000) in California on 1 and 2 October.
Whelan insists the time is perfect for him to auction the original cover art piece: "My experience with Michael and the other Jackson brothers, while admittedly brief, was different from what I've been reading in the papers or seeing on TV broadcasts.
"My recollection of Michael was as an articulate, considerate, soft spoken man, generous with his time and his compliments. His music has the power to unite us in sound, and I was fortunate to have had a part in the Victory album.
"I've held onto the painting he commissioned from me as a memento of those days, and for many years it has been hanging over the doorway to my studio. Now, I feel, it’s time for me to share it."
The Victory album cover artwork depicts Michael Jackson wearing his iconic white glove.
The upcoming Profiles in History Hollywood auction, which will feature the artwork and the glove, will also include the Cowardly Lion costume from The Wizard of Oz, a full-scale model T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Harrison Ford’s hero blaster from Blade Runner.