The works of three independent Chinese artists were presented as part of a silent auction at the New York Observer's second annual Young Philanthropy Event on Tuesday.

The event, held at the W Hotel in Union Square in New York, honored 20 young philanthropists who helped people in need.

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The honorees included actress Rosario Dawson, who raised more than US$7 million in support of low-income New Yorkers living with AIDS.

The three Chinese artists who took part in the auction were Photographer Fu Wenjun and artists Liu Shuishi and Yue Peng.

Fu hails from the Chongqing municipality and presented six photographs which he titled "The Wind of Home". The six photos were taken in Kenya between 2008 and 2011.

Fu drew a connection between life in the US and life in China, citing the differences between rural life and city life in Kenya as an example.

His colleague Liu, who is based out of Beijing, pointed to his own unique style as the driving factor behind the US-based event being interested in auctioning his work.

According to Liu, American artists have unique taste when it comes to contemporary art, and his own style fits well with these demands.

Liu's 2009 work "Existence" won the "Le Louvre Museum-Carrousel Salon" Sliver Award and was exhibited in the Louvre. This same work was one of the pieces auctioned off at Philanthropy Event.

Paintings by New York artist John Ransom Phillips were also part of the auction and Phillips spoke highly of the development of art in China.

"Most of the paintings by Chinese that have been sent over to the US represent something more about art than about China," he said.