£4million Brit art sale for charity

Richard Branson's brother-in-law is selling his collection of post-war British art, including works by Antony Gormley and Lucian Freud, to raise money for his charity in Africa.

Robert Devereux, a former partner in the Virgin empire, hopes to unite "art, Africa and philanthropy" by selling some 400 lots from the collection, which he started as a teenager, at Sotheby's in November.

The sale, which includes pieces by Patrick Heron, Julian Opie, Frank Auerbach and Terry Frost, is expected to raise about £4 million, with works between £100 and £350,000. Devereux, married to Vanessa Branson, said: "Art has always been an obsession of mine. I started buying in my teens and have always bought what I loved.

"Last year, I decided to establish a charity devoted to supporting the arts of Africa, a continent where I now spend a great deal of time and which has huge potential but very few resources to support its burgeoning talent. Art, Africa and philanthropy have now all come together for me and I plan to use the proceeds from the sale of my collection to launch The African Arts Trust."

Sotheby's said the sale was a "walk through British art over the last 60 years" and varying price points made it particularly exciting.