Auctions
Boy George Sketch Fetches Top Price at English Charity Auction
The popstar's frenzied sketch outsold work by artist Anthony Gormley.
The popstar's frenzied sketch outsold work by artist Anthony Gormley.
Alyssa Buffenstein ShareShare This Article
A charity art auction benefiting a hospice care organization in Gloucestershire, England ended yesterday,with a surprise twist, a sketch by iconic 80s popstar Boy George outsold a work by British sculptor Anthony Gormley.
The auction was arranged by Longfield, a Gloucestershire charity that provides resources to patients and families affected by life-limiting illnesses, and the 200-work auction raised £15,000 ($18,944).
The Culture Club singer donated two works, including a framed lithograph titled Old Punks Never Die, customized with crayon to represent the face of Betty Davis, which sold for £2,251 ($2,838). But the highest-fetching work was the pen-and-ink drawing Loving the Alien, which Boy George sketched in Los Angeles, backstage at the Hollywood Bowl, the BBC reports.
The colorful and frenzied Loving the Alien went for £4,300 ($5,421), and was accompanied by a note reading “Bin there, done that, worn the t-shirt. In Memory of Aunty Sue.” It beat out a drawing called Hello by Lionel Richie, a childlike sketch featuring a depiction of Richie’s signature mustache that sold for £300 ($397), and a drawing of a sheep by David Cameron that went for a modest £92 ($116).
The charity auction’s closest tie to the traditional art world was the drawing by Gormley, known mostly for his work as a sculptor. Reflection IV is a subtle and tasteful work depicting a shadowy human figure in beige. It sold for £2,700 ($3,407).
Gormley‘s highest auction record is over $5 million, for a model of his well-known Angel of the North sculpture from 1996. The final monumental version, from 1998, is installed on a hill near Gateshead, England.
And, there might even be more money to be made to benefit hospice care, if Boy George is on board: an anonymous bidder has offered to match the price of the original if the artist is willing to replicate the sketch.