Art groups raise the roof with silent sale

It is hoped the four-day sale at the Royal Scottish Academy in the capital, with Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull, will raise tens of thousands of pounds to pay the societies' rent of the RSA building.

"Artists get asked to donate endlessly to charity auctions and sometimes it's quite difficult," said artist Kate Downie, who like many others has offered work for sale for little or no cost. "This one, they are tending to their own survival."

Each year Scotland's three historic art societies – the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colour, the Society of Scottish Artists, and Visual Arts Scotland, which have 1,200 members between them – stage their annual exhibitions at the RSA building.

The annual open shows give young and little-known artists in particular a chance to show work in the capital's prestigious art space.

However, since the building's revamp early this decade, the rent alone now costs the societies 30,000 per year. The National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) rents the building to the societies at cost for seven weeks for their annual shows.

Visual Arts Scotland administrator Becca Wilson said: "That sort of money isn't just hanging about these days."

Society officials stressed yesterday there was no "bad blood" over the fee.

Ms Wilson said: "They are giving it to us at cost price, it couldn't be for any less. It's just we need to raise our profile, and find ways of raising the money every year."

An NGS spokesman said the galleries "only pass on to them the minimum basic costs, such as heating, lighting and security, that we incur in managing the building".

But commentators and artists have warned that the societies – a vital forum for lower-profile artists, but without government funding – are an "endangered species".

Prize-winning artist Paul Furneaux, whose own work has been selected for the prestigious Royal Academy show in London this year, said the rental cost was "absolutely ridiculous".

The auction is overseen by the societies' umbrella organisation the Exhibiting Societies of Scottish Artists. The organisation can probably cover the rent for 2011, staff said, but needs to guarantee funds for 2012.

Artists, sending work from as far away as New Mexico, set their own reserve prices in the silent auction.

One highlight is an oil painting donated by Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Squash, Melon and Coffee Tin. She said artists' societies' shows were an important outlet:

"I sent my work to different societies when I was starting out. For a lot of young people it's quite difficult."