Post-War and Contemporary Art Sale - New York 2014
“I hope the painting reflects the slight paradox of someone with enormous power yet vulnerability and youth at the same time”
Jonathan Yeo.
On the heels of the Jonathan Yeo Portraits exhibition at the London National Portrait Gallery, Christie’s New York offered up to auction the portrait of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for courageously campaigning for girls’ education.
Jonathan made sure that, after its completion and public display at the British National Portrait Gallery, the painting continued to benefit the organization that bears Malala's name.
Girl Reading (Malala Yousafzai) appeared at Christie's Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale in New York on May 14. Its sale benefitted the Malala Fund, an organization that advocates for the formal education and empowerment of adolescent girls in developing countries. Including buyer's premium, the painting brought $102,500, and the Malala Fund says the money will go to Nigerian charities battling for education and women's rights in the wake of a large-scale kidnapping there by the terrorist organization Boko Haram.
“I was honoured that Jonathan asked to paint me for his exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery and am grateful that Christie’s has agreed to auction the portrait to help girls go to school around the world. The funds raised will support the work of the Malala Fund, including helping young Syrian refugees in Jordan and girls freed from child labor now attending school in Pakistan. I hope that whoever buys the painting knows that their generosity will directly help children in some of the most challenging environments in the world,” said Malala.
About The Malala Fund:
There are 600 million adolescent girls in the developing world. They are an undeniable force for social and economic impact. But only if given the opportunity. Around the world, girls are denied a formal education because of social, economic, legal and political factors. And in being denied an education, society loses one of its greatest and most powerful resources. The Malala Fund aims to change that.
Education empowers girls to raise their voices, to unlock their potential, and to demand change.
The Malala Fund’s solutions are grounded in inspired innovation: they are girl-centric approaches to education that support the Fund’s goal of creating a world where every girl reaches her true potential.