Charities promised money from the sale of Sacha Jafri's The Journey of Humanity — a painting that fetched US$62 million at a Dubai auction in 2021 — say they are still waiting. UNICEF, the United Nations children's agency and the intended beneficiary, confirmed it has not received any of the funds (The Times).

An investigation published on 3 August 2026 by ARTnews reported that the charities owed money from the sale remain unpaid, with the full $62 million unaccounted for.

Jafri, a Dubai-based British artist, set out in 2020 to raise $30 million for charity by painting what would become the world's largest art canvas (Art & Object). The Journey of Humanity measures roughly 1,800 square metres — about the footprint of nearly four tennis courts — and holds the Guinness World Record for the largest painting on canvas. Jafri completed it during the Covid-19 pandemic, working from a ballroom in Dubai's Atlantis resort.

The painting sold at a charity auction in March 2021 for $62 million, well above the artist's original fundraising target (Reuters). The buyer was reported to be a French-Spanish crypto entrepreneur. At the time, the sale was framed as a landmark moment for philanthropy through art, with proceeds earmarked for children's causes via UNICEF and other organisations (TRT World).

Five years on, the money has not materialised. UNICEF told The Times that it had received none of the promised funds from the sale (The Times). The ARTnews report broadened the picture, finding that other charities connected to the sale were similarly unpaid.

Jafri has attracted attention in recent years for high-profile sales and a reported policy of turning down the vast majority of prospective buyers (CNBC). His work has commanded seven-figure sums at auction, and his personal story — painting through lockdown in an empty luxury hotel — drew global media coverage.

What makes the shortfall striking is the gap between the sale's visibility and its outcome. The auction was staged with fanfare, covered by major news outlets and presented as a charitable enterprise from the start. The painting itself broke a Guinness record. The promised beneficiaries, by contrast, have received nothing that UNICEF or ARTnews could verify.

Where the $62 million went remains unclear. The ARTnews report does not resolve whether the funds were collected by the buyer, held by an intermediary, or never transferred at all. Jafri has not publicly addressed the specific findings of the ARTnews or Times reports.

The case raises familiar questions about charitable auctions in the art market — where a sale price, a pledged donation and an actual transfer of funds can be separated by layers of intermediaries and years of delay. For the children's programmes that were meant to benefit, the distinction is not abstract.