Art auction for cancer charity

Associated media

An early portrait of Kate Moss, computer art by Ringo Starr and the chance to appear in one of Alison Jackson’s photos all are up for grabs at the seventh annual Macmillan De’Longhi Art Auction. The sale will feature works by the UK’s most acclaimed contemporary artists.

The event will this year adopt a more expansive format than in previous years, taking place over four days with a programme encompassing several supplementary events that kick-off at the prestigious Royal College of Art on Thursday 19 September.

Artists including Rankin, Mary McCartney, The Chapman Brothers, Jonathan Yeo and Turner Prize winner Tomma Abts, have donated their work to the event. People can view and bid on the stunning collection from 20–22 September, before the climax of the live auction at a private VIP champagne and canapé reception on Monday 23 September.

The annual event, sponsored by premium Italian coffee machine brand, De’Longhi, has already raised over £800,000 since its conception in 2007, helping Macmillan to ensure that no one affected by cancer goes through it alone.

The array of artwork on display and up for auction includes a variety of photographs, collages and oil paintings as well as digital prints and linocuts.

When: Art Exhibition: 20–22 September, 10a.m.–5p.m.
Art Auction: 23 September from 7.30p.m. (Invitation only)
Where: The Royal College of Art, South Kensington, London
What: Three-day public art exhibition, culminating in a private VIP auction
Supplementary events will include a performance by Benjamin Francis Leftwich on Friday 20 September, a reading by Joanna Trollope at 1p.m. on Saturday 21 and an appearance by The Exmoor singers, a choir from Kensington at 7p.m. on Sunday 22 September.

About the illustration above

Corinne Day (1962–2010) was a self-taught, British fashion photographer. Her influence on the style of photography introduced a new documentary feel to image making. During her career, Day was renowned for forming long and close relationships with many of her sitters – among these being Kate Moss. In 1990, Day featured the then 15-year-old model in an eight-page editorial spread entitled ‘The 3rd Summer of Love’, published in the FACE. In 1993, she shot Moss in the model’s flat for the March cover of Vogue. Day herself was always unapologetic about her raw, hard-edged take on the world, claiming that ‘photography is getting as close as you can to real life, showing us things we don’t normally see. These are people’s most intimate moments, and sometimes intimacy is sad’. Day’s work has been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate Modern, Saatchi Gallery, the Science Museum, the Design Museum, Photographers Gallery, Gimpel Fils London and has also been included in an Andy Warhol exhibition at the Whitney Museum NY.