Sothebys to sell Paula Rego RCA secret card

Sothebys will be auctioning off a Paula Rego RCA secret card from the 2005 sale at their prestigious Contemporary Art Day Sale on 16 October 2010.  One of the best cards she has ever done, the estimate is £4,000 to £6,000 which is in my opinion a small price to pay for a miniature work of genius.  It's sure to attract lots of interest with many of the art worlds big players in town for the Frieze Art fair.  Above is a picture of the work in situ at the 2005 sale.  Click here to go directly to the auction.

Last years cards come down

Just a reminder that the college have said that last years cards will come down at the end of September.  Last chance to have another look at them then.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

There are many people for whom RCA secret is just a welcome distraction from their day to day life.  For them they go along to one of the viewing days, maybe buy some raffle tickets, will sometimes pitch up at the sale should depending on their schedule, the weather, whether they liked many of the cards etc.  Sometimes I kinda wish I was in that camp.

Because I will happily admit that I am a little bit obsessional about RCA secret.  About this time of year I can barely wait for it to start, I am, literally, counting down the days both in my head and out loud in conversations with anyone who is prepared to listen.  I need distractions and I love art so I put two and two together and start to prepare for the sale in earnest starting now.  And this is what I do:

1)  I go through all the cards on the RCA website from last year, reminding myself of the cards I loved, the cards I hated, the ones that got away, the surprise "sleepers" that I hadn't even noticed until some time after the sale, the ones that friends loved or bought.  It would be wrong to say that every card provokes a memory but many do. 

2)  I go see as much art as I can.  Actually this pretty much happens all year round anyway but coincidentally October is a great month for seeing art what with all the numerous art fairs going on in London and all the shows and auctions designed to coincide with those fairs.   So October sees me immersed in art.

3) The embarrassment of riches in the London art scene is such that you simply cannot see all the shows, or go to all of the fairs.  So the internet is a wonderful tool to enable us all to enjoy the things we love in a way that wasn't imaginable even at the turn of the century, when I first started going to RCA Secret.

4) Come November the press interest for RCA secret really hots up.  But of course it isn't just the written media, it's TV, it's blogs, it's twitter.  I will keep any eye on it all for you and report all of the articles I find on here.  And it is all the articles, I don't keep any good ones back for myself, or hide any tidbits I find out about the sale.  I make sure it is all here for you to read.

Right I'm off to do all that.  Starting with (1).  Don't forget the college has warned us that the 2009 cards will disappear from the website by the end of September. 

RCA secret style sale tonight

Apologies for the late notice but I have only just got wind of an RCA secret style sale tonight in aid of the Charity "Anno's Africa".  A real shame as if I'd known earlier I might have gone along.  Anyone in central london who fancies popping along all the details below.  I'm sure it will be worth going to as there are some good artists being sold including Jamie Shovlin and Jane & Louise Wilson.

All details below and here

Anno's Africa Charity Art Evening @ Sketch | Thursday, 9 Sept | 7-9pm

Dear Friends, You are warmly invited to join us for free drinks and music at the ANNO'S AFRICA charity art evening this Thursday, 9th September from 7-9pm in the Parlour Room at Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, London W1. We have received over 100 small works on paper generously donated by visual artists, architects, writers, actors, film makers and musicians which will be sold at the event. Below is a list of some of the contributors. In keeping with the Royal College of Art's annual postcard sale, works are to be made available for just £45 with artists names remaining anonymous until sold. Receipts will be drawn from a hat at 9pm on Thursday evening and people will be invited to choose a work in the order in which their number is called. Alternatively, individual works may be purchased from 7pm on the night for a "Buy It Now" price of £500. All proceeds to benefit the ANNO'S AFRICA arts programme in Nairobi. ANNO'S AFRICA is an arts educational charity set up by my stepmother Bee Gilbert in memory of my brother Anno Birkin. The charity brings facilities, workshops and teacher training programmes to orphans and vulnerable children living in some of the poorest and most deprived slums in Africa. The aim is to instil confidence by nurturing creative development and offering alternative qualifications to those who cannot afford school. Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you all on Thursday evening. Very best wishes, David Birkin CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE Rana Begum - Mark Beldan - Jane Birkin - Karen Birkin - Tim Braden - Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin - Oliver Clegg - Justin Coombes - Daniel Craig - Benedict Cumberbatch - Shezad Dawood - Ed Fornieles - Eloise Fornieles - Lynne Fornieles - Victoria Fornieles - Nina Fowler - Hadley Freeman - Charlotte Gainsbourg - Miles Gibson - Margarita Gluzberg - Elisabeth Guss - Nick Hackworth - Leonora Hamill - Kate Hawkins - Maud Hewlings - Sir Ian Holm - Henry Hudson - John Hurt - Jeremy Hutchison - Linda Jephson - Felicity Jones - Laura K. Jones - Daniel Kelly - Idris Khan - Sophie Leris - Roger Lloyd Pack - Francesca Lowe - Kirstie MacLeod - Laura McLean-Ferris - Nicole Morris - Ross McNicol - Nathaniel Mellors - Seboo Migone - Polly Morgan - Annie Morris - Neil Morrissey - Samantha Morton - Orlando Mostyn - Nana Oforiatta-Ayim - Gosha Ostretsov - Guillaume Paris - Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich - Lola Peploe - Benedetto Pietromarchi - Nathaniel Rackowe - Barry Reigate - Alan Rickman - Bruce Robinson - Anne Rothenstein - Isabelle Rowan - Greta Scacchi - Petroc Sesti - Conrad Shawcross - Jamie Shovlin - Holly Slingsby - David Tremlett - Tom Tykwer - Daisy de Villeneuve - Ben Washington - Honeysuckle Weeks - Douglas White - Amelia Whitelaw - Jane & Louise Wilson - Toby Ziegler CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Alan Rickman - Alexandra Hughes - Amelia Newton Whilelaw - Anne Rothenstein - Annette De Mestres - Annie Morris - Ben Washington - Benedict Cumberbatch - Bernd Lepel - Bidzina Kanchaveli - Bruce Robinson - Charles Dansy - Charlotte Gainsbourg - Charlotte Murray - Christine Nicholls - Conrad Shawcross - Craig Lylie - Daisy de Villeneuve - Daniel Craig - Daniel Kelly - David Birkin - David Tremlett - Elena Anikst - Eloise Fornieles - Emma Frost - Emma Frost - Flo Hall - Francesca Wilkinson Shaw - Gareth Brown - Gosha Ostretsov - Greta Scacchi - Guillaume Paris - Hadley Freeman - Hannah Hewitson - Holly Slingsby - Hugh Dunford Wood - Hugo Colville - Ian Holm - Idris Khan - Jamie Shovlin - Jane & Louise Wilson - Jane Birkin - Jehanne Markham - Jenny Seagrove - Jeremy Huchison - John Hurt - Joy Brown - Justin Coombes - Karen Birkin - Kirstie Macleod - Lalin Akalan - Laura Maclean-Ferris - Leonora Hamill - Linda Jephson - Lisa Guss - Liz Johnson - Lola Peploe - Lynne Fornieles - Margarita Gluzberg - Mariana Vutinen - Marie Steinmann - Mark Beldan - Marleen - Maud Hewlings - Max Blond - Mella Shaw - Miles Gibson - Nana Begum - Nana Offoriatta-Ayim - Nathaniel Mellors - Nathaniel Rackowe - Neil Morrissey - Nicole Morris - Nina Fowler - Olivia Blond - Olivia Temple - Orlando Mostyn - Peter Egan - Petroc Sesti - Pippa Hall - Rachel Berry - Roger Lloyd Pack - Rosie Emerson - Ross McNicol - Shezad Dawood - Silia Ka Tung - Simona Samuelson - Sophie Cundale - Sophie De Stempel - Sophie Leris - Sophie Windham - Stephen Gillon - Susan Wooldridge - Tim Braden - Toby Ziegler - Tom Tykwer - Vicky Fornieles - Virginia Hearth - Wen Wu

Your favourite card?

When I woke up this morning and wandered round the house looking at all my fantastic RCA secret cards it got me wondering which card is my favourite - which one would I save if the house was on fire?  A very difficult question as there are so many that I love, and so many that remind me of the particular year in my life that I got them.  Because there is an immense investment of time and energy put into acquiring these cards I think they somehow acquire a much greater significance than any other art I have. 

So I've thought about it hard but for purely sentimental reasons I am going to say that it has to be the card that started it all off in at my first RCA Secret sale in 2001.  By Richard Smith it really started me off on the path I have now travelled.  What's your favourite and why?