Two Portraits of Lionel Messi Raise over $1 Million for Charity

Some people would say Lionel Messi's play on the pitch is a work of art.

Well, now more traditional artistic works of the Barcelona star have raised a fortune for charity. 

The above portrait of Messi from acclaimed British artist Damien Hirst went $556,000 (£362,000) at an auction in London, while the effort below from Japan's Takashi Murakami went for $483,000 (£313,000).

"

Image: Messi painting by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami was sold for €428 000 at charity auction today [@sothebys] pic.twitter.com/1YNVc1tCxS

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) February 12, 2015"

Meanwhile, a ball designed by Murakami and signed by Messi went for a further $69,000.

The money will go to a UNICEF-backed campaign called "1 in 11" which looks to provide education to children around the world.

In total $4 million was raised for the project that will look to improve the lives of children in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal.

[Telegraph]