In 2021, British artist Sacha Jafri auctioned what was then the world’s largest canvas painting, The Journey of Humanity, for a total of £45 million ($62 million at the time) in support of children’s charities. The proceeds from the sale made in Dubai were supposed to be split between UNICEF, UNESCO, and the Global Gift Foundation. But the London Times reports that over five years later, the money has still yet to be disbursed to the selected charities.
In 2022, the UAE-based organization, Dubai Cares, which was supposed to receive and distribute the funds to the different NGOs, filed an ongoing legal case against the winning buyer, French-Algerian crypto-businessman André Abdoune, for failing to deliver on his promised payment, as first reported by the Fence Magazine. Initially, Dubai Cares also accused Jafri of unlawfully seizing the painting and exploiting the charity, but a judge dismissed those claims. Abdoune, however, was reportedly ordered to pay the charity the money owed.
Jafri has categorically denied any wrongdoing in the Dubai sale. “My role in this was as the artist,” he told the Times. “I created The Journey of Humanity and gave it for a charity auction in good faith and for the causes it was meant to support. I did not organize or run the auction, I did not select or vet the bidders, and I had no role in handling the funds.” The artist made the massive splatter painting during the pandemic, and counts among his collectors an illustrious list of celebrities, including Madonna, George Clooney, and Bill Gates. Jafri also regularly donates portions of art sales to charity.
UNICEF confirmed to the Times it had not received any money to date, while UNESCO said it had been gifted $1.9 million from the Dubai Cares organization in 2022, with “no indication of whether or not this donation was made possible directly by the charity auction.” Back in 2021, the artist also told the Art Newspaper that Abdoune had “made a sizeable deposit,” and would pay the rest in installments.
Besides failing to pay for the Guinness World Record-winning, 17,000 square-foot canvas, Abdoune has also come up short on his promise to build a museum in Dubai on government-provided land that would display the painting.
Additionally, as Artnet News reported at the time, Sotheby’s was originally supposed to stage the Dubai auction at the five-star Atlantis the Palm Jumeirah resort, but pulled out at the last minute. Explanations for this varied among sources, and officially, Sotheby’s said they had been asked too late to do facilitate the sale, despite their initial acceptance.
Abdoune did not respond to requests for comment.
