Last Thursday (Valentine's Day), an art auction organized by musician Bono (of U2) and conceptual artist Damien Hirst, raised approximately $42 million (US) to assist in AIDS awareness and relief. Artists who donated to the auction, which took place in New York City, include English graffiti artist Banksy and Hirst himself, who, according to NME.com, "donated seven pieces…including a cabinet filled with drugs to treat HIV".
Some individual works of art were bought for prices that ranged from close to $2 million to just over $7 million, on a few occasions making more than half a dozen times the initial estimate for the piece.
