Last week, Sir Frederick Banting’s painting of the lab where he discovered insulin was sold at an auction held by the Heffel Fine Art Auction House.
Banting is renowned for having discovered insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood, in 1921.
Twenty bidders, including the University of Toronto, competed for the piece. The painting, called The Lab, was won by a mystery buyer for $313,250.
U of T’s vice-president, university operations and vice-provost, academic operations Scott Mabury hopes that the painting will “find its way” back to the university for the 100-year celebration of the discovery of insulin.
The Heffel Fine Art Auction House has pledged its commission of $53,250 toward funding for diabetes research at U of T.
