Top artists put work under hammer to help refugees

Paris - 15 September 2017: Some of the world's most expensive contemporary artists have donated works to be auctioned off to help refugees in Paris later this month.

Cindy Sherman, Annette Messager, Mona Hatoum, and Wolfgang Tillmans are among 25 top international artists who have donated work to go under the hammer of Christie's boss Francois de Ricqles.

The Italian artist Rudolf Stingel, the fifth most expensive living artist after David Hockney, has also given a painting to the sale.

The auction is part of a week of shows and events at the Palais de Tokyo art museum in Paris called "We Dream Under the Same Sky" which centre on culture and citizenship.

The artworks -- which are valued between 7,000 euros and 380,000 ($8,300 and $453,000) -- will go on display at the museum on Saturday.

The two with the highest estimates are a rendering of a New York Times front page by the US painter Wade Guyton and a painting by the Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco (250,000 euros).

The works will then be transferred to the Paris gallery of the fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, where they will go under the hammer on September 27.