Tate splashes out on emerging artists with £100,000 art fund

The Tate galleries are to receive four new works by emerging artists including Olafur Eliasson, the man behind the dramatic new Turbine Hall installation, thanks to a £100,000 art fund established by a wealthy art benefactor.

Candida Gertler, the wife of Zak Gertler, one of Germany's wealthiest property owners, gave £5,000 and persuaded 19 others to do the same to establish the acquisitions fund. The idea was to allow the Tate to acquire works by up-and-coming artists at a new international art fair opening in London this weekend without putting taxpayers' money at risk.

The Frieze Art Fair was the brainchild of Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp, founders of the art magazine frieze, and is the first in Britain to welcome major galleries from as far afield as Brazil and the United States.

The chosen works, to be presented to the Tate collection next month, were Yellow Versus Purple by Eliasson, 36, a Danish-Icelandic artist whose giant glowing sun sculpture was unveiled at Tate Modern this week; a carved marble piece by the Japanese artist Yutaka Sone, 38; two DVDs by the Turkish artist Fikret Atay, 26, featuring his native town near the Iraq border; and six videos by Anri Sala, an Albanian-born artist, about the efforts of the mayor of Tirana to improve the appearance of the Albanian capital city.

Mrs Gertler said the fair's organisers had suggested the purchase fund. "We thought it might be a bit daring [for the Tate] but they were all for it. The emphasis has been on the quality of the work, but because it's not taxpayers' money and because it's a fund born out of a private initiative, we felt that we could take more risky decisions." She added:"It means emerging artists have an opportunity to join the Tate collection."

Mrs Gertler hopes to repeat the initiative next year and is appealing for more donors.

More than 120 galleries featuring the work of more than 1,000 artists, including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst and Sarah Lucas, are taking part in the show, for which The Independent is the media partner.

The fair is housed in a massive tent in Regent's Park designed by the architect David Adkaye. It will include music, talks and specially commissioned artists' projects, such as Untitled (Slope) by Paola Pivi, which consists of a grass-turfed slope for visitors to roll down.

Mr Slotover and Ms Sharp said it was often through commercial galleries that artists' work was first seen. In their introduction to the show handbook, they write: "We want to create something accessible but critical; serious but entertaining; and irreverent but respectful." The fair opens at noon today and runs until 5pm on Monday. Tickets are available for £8 from the box office 0870 060 1789 or at www.ticketmaster.co.uk or £10 on the door.