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Quinn, Gormley and Co raise £450,000 for Africa
Felix Allen22.09.09
A charity auction featuring works by some of Britain's most famous artists raised more than £450,000.
A sculpture donated by Antony Gormley was the top lot, selling for £130,000 in the Art for Africa sale at Sotheby's last night.
Marc Quinn's painted bronze sculpture of Kate Moss locked in a complicated yoga position raised £85,000.
Tracey Emin, Jonathan Yeo, Terry O'Neill, David Bowie and Annie Lennox also donated works.
The total of £457,450 raised in the auction - organised by philanthropists Tara and Jessica Getty - will go to support the Africa Foundation and Ikamva Labantu, which help vulnerable children in South Africa.
Gormley's Standing Matter XX, a sculpture of a human figure made of steel, was the subject of a five-minute bidding war in the New Bond Street salesroom.
Tara Getty, son of the late Sir Paul Getty, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the evening's results, which are exactly what we had hoped for and feel very lucky to have achieved, particularly in the current climate."
