ATHENS — Benaki Museum is launching an online benefit auction of works of art on November 30 until December 14, it said on Thursday.

The auction will be held for the museum's financial support, as most of Greece's museums and cultural organizations are facing a funding shortfall in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The works of art have been donated by artists who have previously exhibited their work at the museum or have collaborated with the Benaki Shop, as well as by the museum's friends and supporters.

It will open on the date of the customary Benaki Annual Gala, which cannot be held this year due to the pandemic's restrictions, and is organized by the museum' Fundraising & Development Department in collaboration with its Sustainability Volunteer Committee. The auction will open at 10:00 on Nov. 30 and end at 21:00 on Dec. 7. It will include over 240 works of art by 138 artists, and prices will start at 50 euros. The catalogue of the exhibit is available as of today (Nov. 26) on the museum site, www.benaki.org.

In a statement, Benaki Museum says it has remained committed to its cultural role despite repeated closures of museums and cultural institutions across the country.

Therefore, it continued, the online auction brings together – albeit digitally – its friends and supporters to help sustain its mission and its programs, "in the same way it has so far remained accessible online for the public, and in the same spirit by which its employees have continued their scientific and educational work."