Banksy, the most famous urban artist in the world despite the fact that his identity is not known, achieved a record on Tuesday and moved a country to life.
His work
Game Changer
, a tribute to the toilets who mysteriously appeared in the corridor of the Southampton General Hospital at the beginning of the covid 19 pandemic (in England), has been auctioned by Christie's in London for 16,758,000 pounds (19,422 .522 euros, just over $ 23 million), a world record for a job by the British artist at a bid.
And most of the money will be donated to the British National Health Service (NHS), a charity that has communicated the same day that the United Kingdom celebrates the first anniversary of the country's lockdown.
The work, made in charcoal, shows a child playing with a nurse doll, as if she were a superheroine, while Batman and Spiderman appear thrown in a trash can, since they can do nothing against the covid.
The work, titled
Game Changer
(
Change in the game
or
change rules
, a pun in English that refers to the crucial role of health professionals because the child has changed toy) was given to the health center with the following message: “Thank you for all that you are doing.
I hope this illuminates this place a bit, even though it's done in black and white. "
The amount raised by the painting far exceeded its starting price of two million pounds and will be donated to health and charities linked to the NHS.
In a statement, Katharine Arnold, co-head of Contemporary and Postwar Art for Europe at Christie's, highlighted the "significance" of having reached that amount on the same day that the United Kingdom "holds a day of reflection to mark the anniversary of the first confinement and after so many lives have been lost in the world ”.
The Christie's expert notes that “with the perfect image of the little boy playing with his superhero doll;
a nurse with the logo of the Red Cross, (Banksy) perfectly captured the essence of this moment ”.
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Also the head of the Southampton University Hospital, David French, said this Tuesday, after learning of the auction result that “this incredible gift will be priceless in helping us focus on promoting and protecting the well-being of our employees while they heal and they recover from last year ”.
The hospital will continue to display a copy of the work on its walls.
Banksy's previous auction record was a work showing the House of Commons of the British Parliament overflowing with chimpanzees that sold for 9.8 million pounds (11.3 million euros, 13.4 million dollars) in October 2019, as confirmed to Efe by a Christie's spokeswoman.
This work, about 4 meters wide and entitled
Devolved Parliament
(“transferred Parliament”) was painted by the Bristol artist in 2009 and also then its sale price exceeded that estimated by the auction house Sotheby's.