Thursday

Hirst Art For £1

The sums certainly add up for maths teacher Mohammed Khan who is now the proud owner of an original Damien Hirst sketch. Leeds City Art Gallery held the "win a Damien Hirst for a £1" raffle to raise money for Heart Research UK, the nominated charity of the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Coun Brian Cleasby. And Mr Khan, who lives in Pudsey and is a regular visitor to the art gallery, bought 60 of the £1 tickets and his punt paid off when he won the signed and dated art work estimated to be worth thousands of pounds. Mr Khan said he hoped he could leave the sketch – which features a skull and a shark – on display at the art gallery so that people could view it while he decided what to do with his prize. Hirst, one of the world's most famous artists whose work sells for millions of pounds and who was brought up in Leeds, did the sketch and donated it to the city at the request of Dr Jeffrey Sherwin, a honorary alderman of Leeds who organised the raffle which attracted worldwide attention. (For full source and full article click the Headline). Irish Art