Two artists are using London’s October auction cycle to convert art-market value into climate infrastructure. Igshaan Adams and Patricia Leite donated works to Christie’s for Artists for Climate Action, a partnership between Gallery Climate Coalition and environmental-law charity ClientEarth.
Adams’s The certainty of being a rose (ii) was offered in the October 14 evening sale with an estimate of £60,000 to £80,000. Leite’s Brilhante is scheduled for the October 15 Post-War and Contemporary Art Day Sale with an estimate of £20,000 to £30,000. Half of each hammer price is designated for ClientEarth and half for Gallery Climate Coalition.
From symbolic support to operating capacity
The structure matters because it funds two different levels of action. Gallery Climate Coalition works within the visual-arts sector, developing free tools and guidance intended to reduce emissions and waste. ClientEarth uses environmental law to challenge governments and corporations. One side addresses how art is made, shipped and exhibited; the other directs resources toward wider legal change.
The partnership also builds on evidence that auction philanthropy can generate meaningful capacity. A related campaign begun in 2021 raised more than £4.5 million for ClientEarth through donated works by artists including Cecily Brown, Rashid Johnson and Antony Gormley.
That history distinguishes the project from a one-night gesture. The measure of success is not only a headline price but whether the money strengthens long-term work: emissions guidance, sector coordination, legal cases and public accountability.
The artwork does not have to become a slogan
Neither donated work was made as a campaign poster. Adams’s suspended textile and bead construction uses the rose as a meditation on natural perfection and fragility. Leite’s painting transforms a remembered nocturnal landscape into saturated color and light. Their contribution is the decision to redirect market value, not an obligation to make didactic climate imagery.
That distinction opens a wider field for artists. Ecological responsibility can be present in subject matter, materials and studio practice, but it can also shape contracts, editions, fundraising, partnerships and the destination of sale proceeds. An artist can support environmental work without narrowing every artwork to a single message.
Questions artists should ask before donating work
A benefit sale can be powerful, but artists should understand its structure before agreeing. The beneficiary percentage should be explicit: is it calculated from the hammer price, the buyer’s premium or net proceeds after costs? The agreement should state who covers fabrication, framing, transport, insurance, photography and taxes. It should also clarify whether the work may be withdrawn if it fails to sell and how the artist’s gallery will record the transaction.
Image rights deserve equal attention. Auction marketing often requires high-resolution photography and broad promotional use. Artists should know which uses are temporary, which remain in online archives and whether third parties may reuse the images.
Finally, the beneficiary should be able to explain what the funds enable. Artists for Climate Action makes that chain unusually legible: the donated object enters the auction market, the hammer proceeds are divided between two named charities, and each organization describes the work the money supports.
A model with limits—and leverage
Charitable sales do not erase the environmental impact of global auctions, shipping or art fairs. They can also place pressure on artists to donate inventory while other participants retain fees and visibility. Transparent percentages and shared costs are therefore essential.
Used carefully, however, the model turns the art market’s concentration of attention and capital into funding for systems change. It also gives collectors a role beyond acquisition: the price paid becomes part of a public environmental commitment. For artists seeking practical climate action, that combination of cultural visibility, contractual clarity and measurable destination may be more useful than symbolism alone.