Work created by artists including Tracey Emin and inspired by the wishes of seriously ill children will be auctioned off to raise money for charity.
The art can be seen at an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery on Sunday before going under the hammer on Monday at a fundraising gala at the Dorchester Hotel ahead of the Frieze Art Fair.
The sale has been organised by the Make-A-Wish Foundation alongside French jewellery firm Cartier.
Emin has donated three watercolours inspired by a seriously ill six-year-old girl called Grace whose wish was “to go on holiday in Wales with her pony” after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Gillian Wearing’s sketches of a young dancer, done with pen and nail varnish on paper, are in response to an 18-year-old whose dream of going to ballet school was cut short after she was diagnosed with leukaemia. London art collector and Make-A-Wish patron Batia Ofer has organised the sale which is expected to raise more than £1.5 million.
She said: “I have been involved with Make-A-Wish for many years and have seen first-hand, and on so many occasions, what a difference it has made to the lives of thousands of children around the world and to their families as well.
“When the idea originally came to me of leveraging my art world connections for the benefit of this amazing charity, I had no idea how warm a response I would receive.
“It has been truly overwhelming to receive the support of such acclaimed artists and galleries from around the world. This is unprecedented collaboration between auction houses and galleries.” The charity’s chief executive Jason Suckley said the children’s wishes “provide hope, strength and happiness regardless of what the future holds” and the exhibition and auction would “assist our ambition of granting more than 1000 wishes in the UK this year”.
source: https://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/arts/tracey-emin-donates-new-pony-paintings-for-makeawish-foundation-art-sale-a3646766.htm