Bristol-based graffiti artist Banksy will donate £1.2million worth of artwork to a charity based in Bethlehem.
The triptych of artworks titled "Mediterranean Sea View 2017" are valued between £800,000 and £1.2million and the money raised at the charity auction, which will take place in Sotheby's tomorrow (July 28), will raise money for a hospital in Bethlehem.
All the proceeds will go towards a new stroke unit and purchase children's rehabilitation equipment for Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation.
Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art for Europe, said: “In Mediterranean Sea View 2017, Banksy corrupts three found oil paintings with his own witty reworkings to create something that, while posing as a 19th-century seascape, spotlights one of the burning issues of the 21st century.
“In Rembrandt to Richter, this triptych hangs in Sotheby's galleries alongside works by some of history's greatest landscape painters, including Bellotto, Van Goyen and Turner.
“Banksy's work, however, stands alone for its potent political message.”
Banksy's latest artwork saw him spraying a message on a London Underground train centred around a message about the spread of coronavirus.
But shortly afterwards, a London Underground train cleaner scrubbed off the artwork which was thought to be worth around £7.5million.
Banksy's work was a message supporting the wearing of face masks to stop the spread of coronavirus, and featured stencilled rats sneezing on the windows and sides of a Circle Line tube train carriage.
Hours after the artist posted a video on his Instagram of him carrying out the work dressed as a member of the London Underground Deep Clean team, Transport for London admitted they hadn't spotted the graffiti was by Banksy, and the real 'deep clean' team had deep cleaned it off.
A spokesperson for Transport for London said they welcomed Banksy's message and asked him to come back and do it officially.
"We appreciate the sentiment of encouraging people to wear face coverings, which the vast majority of customers on our transport network are doing.
"In this particular case, the work was removed some days ago due to our strict anti-graffiti policy. We’d like to offer Banksy the chance to do a new version of his message for our customers in a suitable location.”
