Annual Fundraiser

Each year the Contemporary Art Society organises a major fundraising gala which raises vital funds to purchase new works of contemporary art for museums and public galleries in the UK.

Now one of the social highlights of the busy art world calendar in London, the Contemporary Art Society Annual Fundraiser contributes directly to our charitable mission, benefitting from the tremendous support of its organising Event Committee, the participating artists and their galleries who are commissioned to create new work to auction, as well as guests on the evening. This year’s gala was chaired by Contemporary Art Society trustee Antje Gézcy and was sponsored by Boucheron.

Following the success of previous galas, the theme for 2013 was WANDERLUST, which explored the diverse ways that artists travel in their imaginations to alternative realities, sometimes travelling back in time through the history of art, sometimes to parallel universes and sometimes to the future and beyond. Set in the spectacular subterranean Old Vic Tunnels in Waterloo, the evening was filled with surprise, mystery and intrigue as guests donned a huge variety of creative and inspirational costumes to celebrate heroes from the past and fantasies of the future! With two tunnels displaying artworks especially commissioned to reflect the theme of the gala, each fixed to bespoke wooden neon structures, guests were invited to travel from zone to zone before finally finding themselves in the grand baroque-styled dining hall being served by space age waiters.

Reinforced by the Contemporary Art Society’s 100 year old reputation for identifying the art stars of the future, our gala auctions offer guests an unrivalled opportunity to purchase works by internationally renowned artists as well as those who are attracting national and international critical acclaim and who may not yet be known beyond art world insiders. This year’s auction featured a range of specially commissioned original works of art from internationally celebrated, world-class artists including Fiona Banner, Edward Burtynsky, Simon Periton, Conrad Shawcross, Saskia Olde Wolbers, Clare Woods, Toby Ziegler and Jennifer Steinkamp whose work, Ronnie Reagan 3, was the runaway success of the evening, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate to fetch a hammer price of £36,000.

We are very pleased to announce that, thanks to the generous support of all who attended, we raised in excess of £240,000 on the night to benefit the mission of the Contemporary Art Society.

The WANDERLUST auction catalogue is available to download as a pdf here

For further details regarding the Contemporary Art Society’s Annual Fundraiser, please contact Dida Tait, Head of Market Development & External Relations on tel +44 (0)20 7017 8414 or email dida@contemporaryartsociety.org.