Art Basel Miami Beach: P. Diddy, Adrien Brody and Other Big Spenders

Julian Schnabel and P. Diddy

From Nov. 29-Dec. 4, the 10th annual Art Basel Miami Beach -- the largest art fair in the Western Hemisphere -- drew more than 260 galleries, countless wealthy collectors, both famous and under the radar, and dozens of luxury brands chasing the fair's high-income crowd. "It's a cluster f--- of important people," said one observer of the event, which this year lured such names as Brett Ratner, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tilda Swinton, philanthropist Lilly Tartikoff, Owen Wilson, The Hollywood Reporter's contributing editor, automotive Lake Bell and artist boyfriend Scott Campbell and New Line Cinema co-founder Bob Shaye.

P. Diddy's New Artwork by Tracey Emin

At the VIP preview of the art fair, Diddy shelled out for a 2011 neon work by the British artist Tracey Emin that spells out in bright letters "I Listen to the Ocean and All I Hear is You," from Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Works by Emin of that size and nature typically sell for around $95,000. The rapper-producer was also said to have plunked for a piece by Random International, a London-based studio of three artists known for their light installations. Image courtesy of Lehmann Maupin Gallery.

Diddy's Dinner for His New Book, 'Culo'

Countless parties are thrown during ABMB, and one of the best was the VistaJet-sponsored dinner party given by P. Diddy and art consultant Andy Valmorbida at Mr. Chow at the W Hotel for the new book Culo (Atria Books, $65). The book of photographs by Raphael Mazzucco of women's rear ends was put together by Diddy and Interscope chairman Jimmy Iovine. This shot is titled "Fridge."

Alex Rodriguez: Arts Patron

Yankee baseball player Alex Rodriguez is a collector of works by painter-sculptor Nate Lowman. As the New York Post reported, he held a show of Lowman's art inside an indoor batting cage in his new Miami mansion. A-Rod also gave appointment-only viewing of the installation during the fair.

Artist Nate Lowman

Lowman, whose work Alex Rodriguez collects, includes paintings, installations and sculptures, and has included everything from a tombstone for himself saying he was the "victim of identity theft" to a billboard of a rejected photo of Julia Roberts from a L'Oreal shoot. (According to New York, she thought it was too photoshopped.) Works by Lowman, who gained some ink for dating Mary-Kate Olsen at one point, have sold at recent benefit auctions for $140,000-$240,000. Image courtesy of the artist and Maccarone, New York.

Adrien Brody at the Mr. Chow Dinner for 'Culo'

Adrien Brody was everywhere during ABMB, attending the Culo party, a party for artist Beatriz Milhazes thrown by the Cartier Foundation and W Magazine, a bash at Soho Beach House for the website art.sy and Visionaire magazine's Rio-themed party poolside at the Delano. He also picked up a work by Alec Monopoly, the alias of an unidentified graffiti artist who works in New York and L.A., from Miami's Avant Gallery. The artist uses stencils, spray paint, varnishes and newspapers in his work, which depicts the character from the board game Monopoly. 

Artist Alec Monopoly

Works by Alec Monopoly sell for up to $30,000. Adrien Brody acquired a piece similar to the one shown here, which was painted on top of piano notes for the Lionel Richie song "All Night Long." 

Brody tells THR: "The combination of mischief and humor in Alec's work has always appealed to me. His iconic characters and relentless postings on the streets of N.Y. and L.A. have brought a smile to my face many times. Even as I ventured to the Middle East and came across advertisements for a construction company with the same name (ALEC), I couldn't help but be reminded of his work." Image courtesy of Avant Gallery.

Billionaire Alice Walton's Purchase for Her New Arkansas Museum

Satellite fairs, including Nada and Scope, have sprung up around ABMB. At the Pulse, collector Alice Walton, whose Walmart fortune is estimated at $20 billion, bought a works by artist Jim Campbell from New York's Hosfelt Gallery for her new Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark. Campbell's 2011 installation Exploded View -- in which lights go on and off as if birds were flying through the lights -- is similar to the one bought by Walton. This piece sold for $110,00 to a different collector. Image courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery; photo by Mitchell Zachs.

Philanthropist Eli Broad Eyed Work by Cindy Sherman

Billionaire Eli Broad was at ABMB with wife Edythe and a number of trustees from L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art, of which he is founding chairman. Broad, who is building his own museum in downtown L.A., was reportedly eyeing a work by Cindy Sherman titled "Cover Girl (Redbook)," for sale by New York's Metro Pictures for $150,000. Broad is pictured here at the ABMB VIP opening in front of a work by an unidentified artist. “We really like the new Kara Walker work and the early Cindy Sherman, but we’re still looking,” he told ArtInfo. He owns 120 Sherman works, according to The New York Times, Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFAnyc.com.

Michael Douglas, Brett Ratner at Artist Paramodel's Pulse Booth

Michael Douglas and Brett Ratner met up at the Pulse art fair and checked out a solo installation of work by two-artist team Paramodel, shown by Tokyo's Mori Yu Gallery. Their artist bio says that they "work in parallel towards the same vision of constructing intricate models of Paradise using toy parts, like plastic train tracks and mini-cars." Photo by Meg Pukel.