Twitchell’s Michael Jackson mural on sale for $1 million

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There haven’t been any takers yet -- but downtown’s LOOK Gallery is offering Kent Twitchell’s 100-foot- tall mural of Michael Jackson, originally intended for display on the side of a Hollywood building but never mounted, for sale for $1 million.

And, due to a recent flurry of media interest in the mural in the wake of Jackson’s death, gallery director Jerri Levi reports that Twitchell was busy Thursday night re-hanging the mural -- at least, as much of it as fits -- on the gallery walls for a second view.

The Jackson mural had its first public exhibition at the gallery, which is located in L.A. Mart Design Center, in April as part of a display of Twitchell’s unseen works, titled ‘Thriller: The King of Pop Meets the King of Cool.’

Although Jackson’s death may have had some effect on asking price and expectations, the decision to sell the Jackson mural is not really new; with few exceptions, everything in the April show was, and is, for sale, including a mural of the ‘King of Cool,’ Steve McQueen, which Levi says can be had for a cool $100,000.

In recent days, the gallery has been in talks with city officials and agencies about finding a public home for the mural. At one point, there was a proposal to display the giant portrait in conjunction with Jackson’s July 6 memorial service at Staples Center, but nothing materialized.

Well, at least Culture Monster can say this about the $1-million price tag: It’s a bargain compared to the $1.4 million it cost the city of Los Angeles to clean up after the Jackson memorial service.

-- Diane Haithman