Art sale offers postcards to write home about

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Unravel the secret of art and you could pick up for a song an original work by the likes of Brit-Art bad boy Damien Hirst worth thousands.

Fail, and you could be stuck with a postcard hardly worth writing home about -- or on.

The Royal College of Art unveiled its annual "Secret" exhibition on Monday, giving the press a sneak preview of 1,600 postcard-sized works by some 750 British artists.

Hirst and pop icon David Bowie top the bill of artists featured in the sale -- Hirst has designed one, Bowie two -- but the catch is they are all displayed anonymously and only signed on the back.

"Chicken Run" animator Nick Park and fashion designer Zandra Rhodes have also joined up-and-coming artists in the lineup, which in past years has featured one of the country's most famous living painters, David Hockney.

From cartoons to abstracts, minimalist designs to graphic sexual poses -- even portraits of Prime Minister Tony Blair, his wife Cherie and former Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung -- the exhibition promises something for everyone.

And at $50 each, it promises a small fortune for the lucky few.

"Hirst's is a signed drawing and is catalogued as a piece of his work," exhibition curator Emily Sargeant said. "His signed cigarette butts went for thousands, so (his postcard) could quite easily go for 5,000 pounds."

Hirst himself, best known for the sliced animals suspended in formaldehyde that won him the 1995 Turner Prize, may also join the buyers when they flock to stake their bid, she added.

Eking out his own contribution from among the patchwork quilt of designs smattering the Royal College of Art's walls, British artist Billy Childish welcomed the anonymous format, saying it had banished the artistic ego.

"This brings out the best in art -- it's very leveling," Childish said as he scoured the walls. "It's the anonymity -- the egos get out of the way."

The show opens to the public on Tuesday, but the sale -- and scrum that ensues each year -- will not begin until November 30. All proceeds go towards funding art scholarships.

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Royal College of Art
WebMuseum: Hockney, David
"Chicken Run" Web site
The Damien Hirst Web site
The Official David Bowie Web site

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