RCA Secret 2008, London

About the cheapest way of acquiring a masterpiece (apart from digging around in the attic at your grandparents’ house) is the annual RCA Secret sale, which pits the donated postcard-sized work of established artists and designers – names like Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, David Bailey, Paul Smith, Yoko Ono, and even Manolo Blahnik – alongside that of up-and-coming students. And they all cost just £40. Catch is, you won't know which is which until after you’ve bought.

See more of the postcards from RCA Secret 2008

The potential is huge. A card from the 2000 show by painter Peter Doig sold at Sotheby’s in June, 2007, for £42,000, and many others over the years have fetched in excess of £1,000, making the creative fund-raiser, now in it's fifteenth year, a rather serious affair. A weeklong exhibition of the 2,700 cards takes place from 14 November, and the sale happens a day later on a first come, first served basis – worth the queuing, perhaps, if you’re feeling lucky.

14 November 2008 | Art