A painting made by famous anonymous British painter Banksy has sold for a record $23.1 million at an auction at the famous auction house Christie’s in London.
Called ‘Game Changer,’ the painting is a tribute to healthcare workers that are at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. It shows a young child wearing dungarees and playing with a toy Red Cross nurse wearing a cape and face mask. In a nearby bin, figurines of Batman and Spiderman lie discarded.
The painting was donated by Banksy to the University Hospital Southampton (UHS) in May of 2020 during the first wave of the pandemic.
The painting sold for over four times its high estimate of £3.5 million ($4.8 million). Also, it almost doubled Banksy’s previous record, the 2009 oil-on-canvas “Devolved Parliament” depicting British politicians as chimpanzees in the House of Commons, which sold for a whopping £9.9 million ($13.6 million) at Sotheby’s in 2019.
According to Christie’s, the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the University Hospital Southampton as well health organizations and charities across the country that enhance the care and treatment provided by the NHS.