NEW YORK—Buy what you love. Seems like a no-brainer for art enthusiasts, right? But New York collecting couple Susan and Michael Hort, who are known for their stalwart support of young talent and the savvy acquisitions they’ve made over the years, are putting a new twist on that idea for a rather unconventional charity event. Co-sponsored by the Contemporaries, a group for budding collectors, and Jack Shainman Gallery, the event takes place tonight at Shainman’s gallery in the Chelsea art district.

The Horts provided more than 200 artists — including household names like Luis Gispert and Victor Man as well as emerging talents — with standard 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of plain white paper and asked them to go to town. The twist? The artists’ names will not appear next to their artworks; you only find out whose artwork you’ve bought after you buy it. Prices go down by the hour. From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., it’s $500; from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., $250 and from 8:30 p.m. on, $125.

While we don’t want to spoil the fun, we can’t resist engaging a bit in this guessing game. That one, emblazoned in all caps with the word "Cancelled"? Hm. We suspect it’s a Brendan Fowler. And those naked folks assembled on a beach? Could that be anyone other than Spencer Tunick? Want those? Get there at 6:30 p.m.

A few artists took offbeat approaches to the assignment. One headed the paper with the phrase “20 Ways to Reach Me,” and filled it with the logos for things like Facebook, Gmail, Flickr and Skype. Another reads, humorously if ominously, “Death in Venice Biennale 2011.”

Adventurous collectors may get to go home with work by lesser-known artists from Romania and Hungary, such as Mircea Suciu, Dumitru Gorzo, and Klara Petra Szabo, which the Horts themselves have been collecting avidly of late.

Pick up any of the artworks, and you’ll be benefiting the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, a cancer charity that also supports visual artists through its grant program.

If you’ve complained about the recent art market boom by invoking that by now well-worn phrase “everyone’s buying with their ears!” — that is, amassing work by trendy artists, rather than looking closely at individual artworks — the event is a refreshing change of pace. Go ahead — the Horts dare you — buy with your eyes.