Later this month, Sotheby's will be auctioning off 17 works of art from British Airways' collection in an effort by the airline to raise enough revenue to stay afloat amid current events. According to the BBC, the company is expected to lay off 12,000 employees in the coming weeks as a result of the severe impact that the pandemic has caused on the tourism sector and the multiple restrictions on international flights.

Its most notable lot, Cool Edge (1982) by Bridget Riley will be auctioned at Sotheby's London's “From Rembrandt to Richter” evening sale on July 28. The work is valued between $1 million and $1.5 million dollars, and is considered one of the op-art artist's most important works; a trend that consists of creating optical illusions. The rest of the pieces will be offered in the Modern and Post-war Art online auctions between July 20 and 30. Some of the artists included among the works to be sold include Damien Hirst, Julian Opie, Peter Doig and George Shaw.

British Airways' art collection is one that has been built over several decades and has allowed the company to position itself as a prominent corporate supporter of Contemporary Art. His strategy has been to purchase early works by rising artists, allowing its collection to increase in value over the years. The works that are acquired are exhibited and rotate among its multiple offices and luxury waiting rooms in airports located around the world.

“We are of course very sad to see some of the key treasures from the BA art collection being auctioned; a collection that has been widely admired and was a first in the airline industry. However, we understand that these are difficult times,” a member of Artwise, a team of London curators who managed the collection for 17 years (until 2012) and purchased around 1,500 works of art for the company, told the BBC.

With information from Artsy, BBC and El Confidencial.