The portrait of a courageous
Pakistani girl will be offered for sale at Christie’s New York next month.
Malala Yousafzai, was an advocate for education for girls and women, and in
October 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban while boarding a school bus.
In the following days she gained worldwide recognition, receiving praise from
President Obama as “The Bravest Girl in the World,” and earned the
International Children’s Peace Prize.
In April 2013, while recovering from her
head injury, she met artist Jonathan Yeo who was so inspired by her strength
and courage that he asked to paint her portrait. The painting, titled Girl Reading (Malala Yousafzai), which
portrays the teenage girl, dressed in a white robe, sitting at a table with a
book, while looking up at the viewer.
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| "Girl Reading (Malala Yousafzai)" by Jonathan Yeo |
Yeo first exhibited the painting at the
London National Gallery, and Christie’s auction house in New York agreed to
offer it for auction where it’s estimated to bring in $60,000-$80,000. It will
be included in Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art on May 14th, and money
raised will benefit the Malala Fund, a charity set up by Malala to support the
fight for the right for girls and women to an education, freeing them from
child labor. About his work, Yeo notes, “I hope the painting reflects the
slight paradox of representing someone with enormous power and wisdom, yet
vulnerability and youth at the same time.”
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