News / Gromit Unleashed 3
£2m raised at auction of Gromit Unleashed 3 sculptures
£408,000 had already been raised even before the start of the Gromit Unleashed 3 auction on Thursday night and by the end of the evening, £2m was guaranteed to go to the Grand Appeal.
The money raised will support the Grand Appeal’s ongoing work at Bristol Children’s Hospital and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at St Michael’s Hospital.
One of the fiercest bidding wars among the the 55 sculptures was for Darth McGraw by Lucasfilm which sold for £70,000; with Bobby Dazzler, a mosaic work by Lizzie Tucker, selling for £65,000.
The auction at Cribbs brought to an end the third instalment of Gromit Unleashed, whose official app hit number one in the Apple and Android stores over the summer, with the trail bringing tens of thousands of visitors to Bristol and further afield.
Bidding for the sculptures was fast and furious – photo: Martin Booth
Ahead of the first hit of the hammer, Grand Appeal trustee Mike Norton set the scene, calling the sculptures “individually inspiring and collectively a show of incredible talent”.
Helena Newman, chairman of Sotheby’s Europe who has sold paintings for more than $100m, was the auctioneer on the night.
It was not just sculptures of Wallace, Gromit, Feathers and Norbot either; an original Banksy screen print, Toxic Mary, also sold for £19,000.
Bids came from inside a tent at Cribbs and also from people online – photo: Martin Booth
Nicola Masters, director of The Grand Appeal, said it was an “incredible night”.
Masters said: “To see these much-loved characters go under the hammer and raise such an astonishing amount is truly humbling.
“We are so grateful to every bidder, sponsor, artist and supporter who made this possible.
“These funds will make a life-changing difference for sick children and babies cared for at Bristol Children’s Hospital and St Michael’s Hospital.”
Peter Lord, Nicola Masters, Helena Newman, Nick Park and Dave Sproxton celebrate at the end of the auction – photo: Barbara Evripidou
Main photo: Martin Booth
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