“Game Changer”, a black and white painting of a square meter (three square feet) of a child playing with a toy nurse as a superhero by artist Banksy sold at auction house Christie in London for a record £ 16 , 7 million (€ 19.5 million / $ 23.2 million) on Tuesday, the highest amount ever paid for a work by the anonymous artist.
The painting of a boy lifting a nurse with a cape and mask – Batman and Spider-Man relegated to the wastebasket behind him – was donated to University Hospital Southhampton by the artist last May, in thanks to the service of the frontline workers of the UK. Health Service (SNS) in the fight against coronavirus.
It is said that the work arrived with a letter saying: “Thank you for everything you are doing. I hope it will light up the place a little, even if it is only black and white.”
The earnings will promote the well-being of the NHS worker
Christie’s says Southhampton Hospitals Charity will use the proceeds from the sale to “fund welfare projects for employees and patients” and “distribute to a wider community of healthcare providers in both the NHS and the charities.”
“This incredible gift will be invaluable in helping us focus on promoting and protecting the well-being of our team as they heal and recover from last year,” said David French, interim executive director at University Hospital Southampton.
Banksy, ‘a constant barometer of national sentiment’
Speaking of the artist and painting – which had an estimated selling price of € 4 million and was hammered at € 16.7 million – Christie’s Katharine Arnold called Banksy, “an extraordinary artist who is a constant barometer of national sentiment” .
“With the perfect image of a boy playing with his superhero doll; a nurse with the International Red Cross, he perfectly captured the essence of this moment,” said the European contemporary art expert.
A reproduction of the work will take the place of the original in the hospital for the appreciation of patients, visitors and workers.
Britain’s chronically underfunded NHS
The funding that the painting will provide is very much needed across the UK healthcare landscape. The NHS, in particular, is a chronically underfunded giant that can never keep up with the demands of an aging population, despite annual budgetary increases.
This tension means that early screening for diseases may not be done and waiting times in hospitals and doctors’ offices are exacerbated by the lack of health professionals who, in turn, have been even more negatively impacted by Brexit.
A 2018 study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) comparing 21 countries found that the UK had the lowest per capita number of doctors, nurses and hospital beds in the western world, with only Poland having fewer doctors and nurses and only three – Canada, Denmark and Sweden – with fewer beds.
The OECD also found that the UK had cut the number of hospital beds in the country in half – to 100,000 – in the past 30 years.
The sale broadcast live on Christie’s took place on the one-year anniversary of the first blockade order issued by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. To date, more than 126,000 UK citizens have died of coronavirus.
js / aw (AP, dpa, Reuters)