Nearly four months after the deadly fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, the art world is continuing to offer its support to victims and their families. On 16 October, Sotheby’s is due to host Art for Grenfell, a benefit sale of works donated by leading artists, including Tacita Dean and Rachel Whiteread, and art-world insiders, organised by the film producer Hamish McAlpine and the art adviser Katie Heller.
The London-based dealer and long-time Frieze London exhibitor Sadie Coles has donated Neo Rauch’s oil on board Treffen (1998), which carries an estimate of £50,000 to £70,000. “I live near Grenfell and see and feel the devastation it has caused to this diverse and vibrant community,” Coles says. “The painting has been in my home for more than 20 years, the same length of time I have lived in west London, so it is meaningful that funds raised will go directly to the families in this horrible situation.”
The sale is expected to raise around £700,000, to be distributed equally among the 158 surviving families by the Rugby Portobello Trust. Other highlights of the sale, which has around 30 lots, include Yinka Shonibare’s unique life-sized mannequin Bad School Boy (2014) (est £70,000-£90,000) and a large chromogenic print by Wolfgang Tillmans, Freischwimmer 193 (2009), an artist’s proof of a unique edition (est £120,000-£180,000). A preview of the sale is due to run from 12 to 16 October.