Hirst donates sketches for auction

4:10pm Monday 6th October 2008

Controversial artist Damien Hirst has donated three sketches to a charity auction.

Hirst, 43, who won the Turner Prize in 1995, has given doodles of a shark, a skull and a butterfly to consumer art exhibition, Buy Art Fair.

Proceeds from the sketches - estimated to be worth £2,000 each - will go to the Five Stars Scanner Appeal, a campaign to raise £1 million for a much-needed MRI scanner for The New Manchester Children's Hospital.

Other renowned artists and celebrities, including boxer Ricky Hatton, Rocky Horror creator Richard O'Brien and Terry Parachute's illustrator Paul Kidney have donated drawings and doodles to be auctioned.

The Buy Art Fair exhibition will take place at Manchester's Rubies centre from Thursday to Sunday and galleries across Europe have allowed works to be included.

The exhibition will also feature a series of talks with advice on buying and investing in art, learning more about different styles from street art to photography and a chance to hear direct from the artists themselves.

About 7,000 art buyers are expected to attend the event, which will take place over four floors at Rubies.