Sale: Art for Africa

Location: Sotheby’s, New Bond Street, London W1, tel: +44 (0)20 7 293 5000. Catalogue online at www.sothebys.com

Date: Monday September 21 at 6.30pm. On view Sunday noon-5pm. Viewing is open to the public but entry to the sale is by ticket only: book at +44 (0)7884 258616 or www.artforafrica.org.uk

Need to know: Philanthropists Tara and Jessica Getty and the South African artist Beezy Bailey are behind this high-profile charity sale, which aims to make up to £500,000 for the Africa Foundation and Ikamva Labantu, long-established organisations that provide care for South Africa’s vulnerable children. The 38 works include pieces by such names as Annie Lennox, David Bowie, Tracey Emin and Antony Gormley. It is the third such sale co-organised by Bailey, who became famous in the early 1990s when it was discovered that the black woman painter Joyce Ntobe didn’t exist, being instead an alter-ego invented by Bailey in protest at South Africa’s politically correct art scene.

Highlights: Sotheby’s will not charge either buyer’s premium or seller’s commission; there is a broad spread of estimates from £1,000 to £150,000 but the charity aspect should ensure that even the lesser lots far exceed expectations. The most valuable work is “Standing Matter XX” (£100,000-£150,000), a six-foot figure made from steel balls by Antony Gormley (pictured). A small, painted bronze of a woman in a yoga pose by Marc Quinn is on offer at £90,000-£120,000, while an explicit Tracey Emin drawing, “Suffer Love XXI”, is modestly priced at £2,500-£3,500. Bailey has submitted three works, including an abstract oil created with David Bowie (£2,000- £3,000) and a Joyce Ntobe painting of a church in Khayelitsha (£6,000-£8,000). Contributing African artists include Yinka Shonibare and Walter Meyer, whose small “View of Namibia” is one of the delights of the sale (estimate £2,000-£3,000).