The Moca Westlake, a private museum in Hangzhou, the Power of Children, a charity foundation in Shanghai, Beijing Huachen Auctions, and the Beijing Association of Auctioneers have jointly initiated a charity drive starting late last month to help fight the novel coronavirus, calling for donated artwork.

Quickly, a dozen studios and institutions from China and abroad have joined in. Now they are staging Artists In Action Against Virus, a series of online charity auctions starting today, to raise funds for medical workers and hospitals in Wuhan and Huanggang, two cities hit hard by the virus in Central China's Hubei province.

"When we sent out our message, we were unsure whether our voices would be heard," said Moca Westlake general manager Tong Yanrunan, a key organizer of the charity project. "To our delight, more and more artists from home and abroad have been answering our call. We have so far received more than 200 donated artworks, from artists or art galleries. Still more are coming in."

The first of the online auctions is being held today and will end at 8 pm.

Going under the hammer today are 100 works, mostly contemporary and vanguard artworks, created by 70 world-renowned artists from home and abroad.

Among featured artists are Zhang Ding (1917-2010), chief designer of China's national emblem, Fan Di'an, chairman of the Chinese Artists Association, Giuseppe La Bruna, director of Venice Academy of Fine Arts and experimental ink artist Qiu Shude.

Anyone who is interested in art collection can log on and join in the bidding after paying a small deposit, organizers said. More online auctions will be held in the coming weeks.