Sacha Jafri (born 1977 in United Kingdom) is a contemporary British artist known for creating the world's largest painting on canvas, ''Journey of Humanity'' (as recognised by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'') over seven months in 2020 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

Early life

Jafri attended

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

. In 2000 he obtained his master's degree in Fine Arts from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Career

Jafri generally works outside the art gallery system, donates many of his works and or proceeds from them to charity efforts, and numbers among his collectors

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

, members of the British royal family,

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, Leonardo DiCaprio,

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, Madonna,

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, and

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Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

commissioned Jafri to do portraits of the "14 most influential living

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

" for his Mosaic initiative. He has also been appointed a resident artist by the 21st Century leaders charity. In 2014, he created the cover art for ''

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'', the final studio album by musician

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''Journey of Humanity''

In 2021, Jafri's ''Journey of Humanity'' painting sold at auction in Dubai for 228 million

Dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

($62 million US), the third highest auction price ever paid for a work of art by a living artist, behind

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's ''

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'' ($91.1 million US), and

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

's ''

Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) ''Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)'' is a large acrylic-on-canvas pop art painting by British artist David Hockney, completed in May 1972. It measures , and depicts two figures: one swimming underwater and one clothed male figure ...

'' ($90 million US). The painting measures over and incorporates the artwork of children from more than 140 nations. The artwork was purchased by French crypto businessman Andre Abdoune. Jafri donated the proceeds from the sale to children's charities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffri, Sacha British painters Living people 1977 births English contemporary artists