Whole lotta hope for auction

A number of beautiful artworks will be up for the grabs at the auction in Birmingham on November 20 and there's a 'Whole Lotta Love' for a painting of Led Zeppelin legend and famous Wolves fan Robert Plant that is going under the hammer.

The piece depicting the iconic rockstar was created by Louise Cobbold, the artist who has previously raised money for Cure Leukaemia through her paintings of Wolves players.

These same paintings, that feature captain Conor Coady and manager Nuno, among others, have been used for the match day programmes for Wolves' home fixtures this season.

For the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (BSA) charity auction, more than 50 artworks have been donated by artists across the UK.

The event is being run by Bonhams and is in collaboration with Deutsche Bank Birmingham and Cure Leukaemia and is being held at Deutsche Bank’s Brindleyplace headquarters.

Alongside Louise's Robert Plant piece, other artworks are going on sale from iconic artists Ken Howard OBE, Barrie Cook and Hilary Paynter.

Last year's inaugural auction raise almost £10,000 and all ticket proceedings from this years event, which cost £10, will go to Cure Leukaemia, with proceeds from the auction sale going to RBSA.

Robert Neil, President of the RBSA and a past finalist in the BP Portrait Award, said: "The auction is sure to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening as well as a great opportunity to raise much-needed funds for two very worthy causes. Bonhams helped ensure last year’s event really went with a swing."

Jackie Kelly, head of corporate partnerships at Cure Leukaemia, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and extremely appreciative that we will be the beneficiaries of the auction of Louise Cobbold’s fantastic painting of Robert Plant.

“We are grateful to Louise for giving up her time and being willing to share her talent to produce this painting and look forward to seeing how much this raises on the night to help fund the vital work of Cure Leukaemia.

"We are also grateful to photographer Sam Bagnall for donating the original image that inspired this fantastic piece.

“Our partnership with Deutsche Bank promises to be transformational for the charity and we are really enjoying working with the bank at a number of different events.

"We are sure that this will be another successful evening in Birmingham showcasing fantastic pieces of artwork.”

A spokesperson for Bonhams said: “‘Bonhams is honoured to be asked to assist with the auction of these works in order to raise funds for these very worthy charitable causes.”