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.