One of Sophie Gralton's paintings (not the one auctioned at the Black Dog Institute annual gala dinner)
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Sydney artist Sophie Gralton who was rejected by the Australian version of The Apprentice for one of the show’s challenges.
Well, I bet the men’s team of Morello, Gavin and Sam – who chose two other artists instead of Gralton only to be out-sold by more than $25,000 by the women’s team – would be kicking themselves to learn that a painting by Gralton sold for $50,000 at auction in Sydney last night.
The painting was bought by a mining magnate at the annual shindig put on by the Black Dog Institute at the Westin Hotel in Sydney, which was emceed by the ABC’s Julian Morrow.
Gralton donated the artwork to the institute at the request of a childhood friend whose 14-year-old son committed suicide last year.
The Gralton painting that sold for $50,000 titled If You Had Been His Own Boy
The auction was going well and when the bid reached $38,000 Gralton walked on stage to explain that she used to push the 14-year-old boy, who I won’t name, in a pram when he was a baby. As coincidences go, the boy in the painting was actually the teenager’s little brother adding another level of poignancy to the occasion.
Organisers then re-opened the auction and the bids rocketed to $50,000, all of which was donated to fund research into the impact of depression on teenagers.
Wonder what Morello, who won The Apprentice, would think about that?
