Red Art, Hot Ticket

The scene at Sotheby's (AUCTION)RED on Thursday night will look less like the an art-world event than a fashion-week party or a movie premiere. The evening — a benefit for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria organized jointly by Bono, Damien Hirst, Larry Gagosian, and Sotheby's — is an invitation-only affair, with a pre-sale red carpet and a deejayed afterparty.

The concept is based on (PRODUCT)RED, a campaign backed by Bono, in which a share of the profits from the sale of designated iPods, laptops, cell phones, T-shirts, etc., is donated to the Global Fund. The program has reportedly raised more than $20 million. It has also generated successful marketing campaigns for companies including Apple, the Gap, and Dell. In March 2007, the magazine Advertising Age reported that Red companies had spent $100 million on advertising and raised only $18 million. (The campaign countered that companies had spent only $50 million on advertising and raised $25 million; Advertising Age stuck by its article.)

In any case, Bono's dedication to the program attracted the attention of the art dealer Enrico Navarro, who, like Bono, has a vacation home in St. Tropez. Mr. Navarro suggested that the campaign sponsor an art auction.

"It was an idea that we had together on the beach," Mr. Navarro said by phone. "He was working on [the Red] project very hard, from the day into the evening," Mr. Navarro continued, noting that Bono was working particularly hard on the campaign's advertising. "I told him: 'Why don't we try to make a Red sale?'"

Mr. Hirst soon got involved and recruited other artists to donate work. The sale is valued between $21 million and $29 million. The works that Mr. Hirst donated, including one of his signature pill cabinets, are cumulatively valued at $13.4 million. Andreas Gursky donated an all-red photograph titled "Pyongyang IV." Other participating artists include Takashi Murakami, Cecily Brown, Richard Prince, and the British artist Banksy. Most of the artworks were produced specifically for the sale and have a red or Valentine's Day theme.

Mr. Navarro said he will encourage his clients to buy at the sale, because the quality is high.

"Some pieces will [sell for] more because it is a charity," he said, but "most of the pieces would sell in a regular auction."

The crowd of 700, however, won't look like your typical auction attendees. No doubt many of Mr. Gagosian's clients were invited, but they will mingle with entertainment figures like Michael Stipe of R.E.M., Dennis and Victoria Hopper, and supermodels Christy Turlington, Petra Nemcova, Helena Christensen, and Liya Kebede. The group The Hours and the rapper Q-Tip will entertain at the after party.