Banksy's new artwork auctioned for $23 mln

A new painting by the anonymous street artist Banksy has set a new record at Christie's as it was auctioned for 23 million dollars on Tuesday.

Entitled "Game Changer," the painting is dedicated to UK health workers. It depicted an English nurse as a winged superhuman in the hands of a young child who forgets his other famous superhumans such as Batman.

The artist donated the artwork to the University Hospital Southhampton (UHS) in May, during the first wave of the pandemic.

Banksy left a message on his work saying: "Thanks for all you're doing. I hope this brightens the place up a bit, even if it's only black and white."

The hospital's chief at that time Paula Head tweeted: "An inspirational backdrop to pause and reflect in these unprecedented times."

The returns of the auctioning the painting will fund the UHS alongside other medical organizations.

World-famous Christie's described it as "the simple, universal values that have come to the fore during the pandemic - family, home and time spent with loved ones." 

Early this month, Banksy was spotted in the street accidentally while painting his latest graffiti artwork, "Create an Escape," on the wall of the Reading Prison where Oscar Wiled wrote a number of his most notable works.

The aim of the painting was to back the national campaign that calls for turning the prison into a center of arts.