Goldsmiths fundraiser at Christie’s

YBAs and college alumni auction works for the London art college

The Young British Artists, or YBAs, who shocked and disrupted the art world in the 1990s, are now not only older but wealthier. And with admirable generosity, a group of the best-known YBAs is contributing to the education of the next generation of artists by donating works to raise money for a new building for their alma mater art school, Goldsmiths at the University of London.

As part of the Post-War and Contemporary Art sale at Christie’s on Thursday February 12, works including Damien Hirst’s Ipratropium Bromide (estimate £250,000-£350,000, second picture) and Sarah Lucas’ Nahuiolin (£120,000-£180,000, first picture), alongside pieces by other illustrious Goldsmith alumni such as Antony Gormley (whose work Another Time XX, £120,000-£180,000, third picture, is in the sale), will be auctioned. Proceeds will go towards the £2.8m needed to build The Gallery at Goldsmiths, a new space for research-driven projects, and to support residencies to generate new artworks.  

Gormley is enthusiastic: “The Gallery at Goldsmiths will be a place where students and the wider public can experience and test drive new forms of art, as well as see relevant examples of art – ancient and modern.”

“With Steve McQueen winning the Oscar for Best Director last year and Sarah Lucas this year representing Britain at the Venice Biennale, the alumni of Goldsmiths continue to penetrate and influence global culture,” says Francis Outred, Christie’s head of post-war and contemporary art, Europe.

“We want to ensure that future generations of artists get the inspiration and support they need to keep London at the centre of the contemporary-art world for the next century,” says Richard Noble, head of art at Goldsmiths. Here’s hoping the MABAs, or Middle-Aged British Artists, will raise substantial funds to help turn this wish into reality.