(CN) — Original satirical drawings and sketches of the Prophet Muhammad that threw Denmark into a diplomatic crisis in the 2000s are now set for sale.
On Tuesday, gallery KW ICONS auctioned 21 creations by cartoonist Kurt Westergaard including his controversial drawing of the Muslim prophet first published in the Danish national newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005. The drawing sparked an international debate on the right to free speech.
Prices on the original drawings start at 200,000 euros ($216,000) with KW ICONS expecting the price to rise as several international bidders have shown interest including people from the U.S., gallery owner Erik Guldager told Danish newspaper Berlingske.
"I have never tried anything like it. It is a very big event. That drawing has been a crank for freedom of expression,” said Guldager.
According to Guldager, there have been talks to sell the drawings for the past 19 years. In the last six months, the owners decided that the time was right for setting the artwork out on the market.
Kurt Westergaard died in 2021 at the age of 86 after a long illness. His name reached international fame when his controversial drawing of the Prophet Muhammad was published. It first forced him into hiding, though later he lived openly for many years under the protection of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.
He received multiple death threats and was attacked by a Somali man with an ax in his home in 2010. The cartoonist escaped into a saferoom installed in the house, leaving his 5-year-old grandchild in the living room. Police raided the house shortly after Westergaard sounded an alarm. Everyone survived and the attacker was eventually expelled from Denmark.
His drawings sparked multiple protests in Denmark and the Muslim world with demonstrators saying the drawings portrayed Islam and its followers in a negative light.
Then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted that freedom of expression includes the right to criticize any religion, and he denied meeting requests from ambassadors of 11 Muslim countries.
In 2006, multiple Muslim religious public figures called for a boycott of Danish products in the Middle East. Images of the Danish flag being burned were broadcast worldwide, and Jyllands-Posten received multiple bomb threats. Denmark continued to be in a diplomatic crisis with the Muslim world in the following years.
Those years remain an important chapter in Danish modern history. The auction shows Westergaard's drawings still fascinate outside the borders of the small Scandinavian country they originate from.
"They have also created a lot of joy and a lot of attention. I have also received inquiries from the Middle East with possible purchase offers before the auction, so it is probably doubtful whether the negativity is so great today. I think we are dealing more with genuine interest,” Guldager said.
For security and insurance reasons, the drawings are not currently located in Denmark, instead sitting in a safety deposit box in Hamburg, Germany. And they may never return to their home country.
"I have it mixed with that. I think it's a cultural treasure, it's about something so important. But I have to disconnect my feelings a little and say, now they are for sale, and if it is important to get them, then you have to bid for them,” Guldager said.
Follow @LasseSrensen13
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