Paintings & Watercolours by David Jones at National Museum Cardiff

CARDIFF.- David Jones occupies a unique place in twentieth-century British art, and is often called the greatest painter-poet since William Blake. A selection of work from Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales’ outstanding collection of works by the artist David Jones (1985-1974): Paintings and Watercolours are on display at National Museum Cardiff from 5 November 2011 – 4 March 2012. Amgueddfa Cymru has the principal public collection of Jones’s work, but as he worked primarily in watercolour, these pictures are not on [...]

Sotheby’s unveils a group of Modern British art from the Dartington Hall Trust Collection

LONDON.- Sotheby’s announces the sale of a remarkable group of works by British artists on behalf of The Dartington Hall Trust, to be sold as part of Sotheby’s sale of 20th Century British Art on Wednesday, 16th November 2011. The works, comprising paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and ceramics by artists including Ben Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Winifred Nicholson and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, have been carefully selected by The Dartington Hall Trust. The discrete selection of 40 works comes from a much larger and important [...]

Sotheby’s London to Sell a Group of 20th Century British Art from The Dartington Hall Trust Collection

LONDON.- Sotheby’s today announced the sale of a remarkable group of works by British artists on behalf of The Dartington Hall Trust, to be sold as part of Sotheby’s sale of 20th Century British Art on Wednesday, 16th November, 2011. The works, comprising paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures and ceramics by artists including Ben Nicholson, Christopher Wood, Winifred Nicholson and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, have been carefully selected by The Dartington Hall Trust. The Dartington Hall Trust is maintaining a substantial collection comprising works of [...]

Rare Work that Sheds Fascinating Light on British Delegation to China in 1954 to Be Shown at Sotheby’s

HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s announces the Hong Kong exhibition, between 1 – 6 April 2011, of a rare work that sheds fascinating light on a little-known British delegation to China in 1954 – just five years after the new People’s Republic of China was established – and well before the famous Nixon visit of 1972. The painting, Ming Tombs (estimated at £80,000-120,000/ HK$1-1.5 million), by celebrated British artist Stanley Spencer – who came to be regarded in China as an English [...]

Rare Painting of Doomed WW2 Bomb Store that was Covered Up for Years, Offered at Bonhams

LONDON.- A powerful painting of a Staffordshire bomb store by the artist David Bomberg will be offered by Bonhams in the 20th Century British Art sale on March 9th. The painting is estimated to sell for £80,000 – 120,000. As World War II broke out in Europe, Bomberg felt a pressing need to contribute in some way and repeatedly suggested that artists be employed to depict and document the historic events. To his satisfaction, in 1939 it was announced that a [...]

The Football Match by L.S. Lowry is Expected to Realise in Excess of £3.5 Million at Christie’s

LONDON.- Having not been seen in public for almost 20 years, The Football Match, 1949, by Laurence Stephen Lowry, R.A. (1887-1976) will be offered at auction on 26 May 2011 in Christie’s sale of 20th Century British Art. An exceptionally rare depiction of one of Britain’s most popular sports – football – by one of the country’s most iconic British artists, this painting is a modern masterpiece. The property of a Private Collector, The Football Match has an estimate of £3.5million [...]

Sotheby’s Sale of 20th Century British Art Establishes a New Auction World Record

LONDON.- The sale of 20th Century British Art at Sotheby’s in London established a new auction record for a work by Sir Stanley Spencer (in pounds – see note at foot of email), when his Hilda and I at Pond Street sold for £1,430,050 ($2,249,612), far in excess of its pre-sale estimate of £400,000-600,000. (The previous auction record for Spencer was £1,320,000 ($2,161,454) and this was achieved for his The Crucifixion, which sold at Sotheby’s in London in 1990.) Hilda and [...]

Dedicated Sale of 20th Century British Art Announced at Sotheby’s for December 15th

LONDON.- Following the success of The Robert Devereux Post-War British Art Collection at auction last month, Sotheby’s will stage its dedicated sale of 20th Century British Art in London on Wednesday, December 15, 2010. A number of distinguished private collections will form the core of the sale, as will a group of de-accessioned works from an array of US museums, all of which are being sold to benefit future museum acquisitions. Property from the Estate of the late Maurice Cooke [...]

Tate Britain is Changing: First Phase of Major Building Project Starts this Autumn

LONDON.- This autumn Tate Britain embarks on a process which takes the gallery into the first phase of a major building project, through a period of transition and into a changed approach to showing the collections in newly refurbished galleries. The two-year period between spring 2011 and spring 2013 will be characterised by new ways of thinking about the Collection in the BP British Art Displays at Tate Britain. There will be two primary approaches, firstly a route for visitors to [...]

Pictures by Grandmother Who Picked Up Paintbrush in Her Sixties Offered at Bonhams

LONDON.- Following the Bonhams’ sale in June, where a picture by Helen Bradley was sold at a world record price, three pictures by the artist will be offered in the 20th Century British Art Sale held at Bonhams New Bond Street on the 17th November. Born in 1900 in Lancashire, Helen Bradley was always interested in art, but it was not until she was in her sixties and her grandchildren were asking what life was like when she was a [...]

Frank Auerbach Painting Emerges After 30 Years in Private Hands

LONDON.- An important and large painting Looking Towards Mornington Crescent Station (1972 -74) by the highly acclaimed artist Frank Auerbach will be sold by Bonhams in the 20th Century British Art auction at New Bond Street on November 17th 2010. The painting, which has never appeared at auction before and hasn’t been since in public since the late 1970s, is estimated to sell for £800,000 – £1,200,000. In June Bonhams achieved the highest ever price at auction for a small [...]

20/21 British Art Fair to Show the Best in British Art this Year

LONDON.- The 20/21 BRITISH ART FAIR, the fair that champions Modern British art, will take place from 15 – 19 September at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London. It will be opened by Ed Vaizey, MP, Minister for Culture, Communication and Creative Industries at 5pm on Wednesday the 15th. It is the first big fair of the autumn season and the Royal College of Art, arguably ‘the spiritual home of British art’, provides an ideal setting to see [...]

Frank Auerbach Painting of His Lover Makes 860,000 Pounds at Bonhams

LONDON.- An important painting by the British painter Frank Auerbach of his long-term lover, Estella Olive West, entitled Head of E.O.W. III, 1961, sold yesterday (30 June) for a remarkable £860,000 at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its 20th Century British Art sale. The sale fetched an impressive £2.8 million in total. The painting, which has never appeared at auction before, had been expected to fetch £400,000 – 600,000. Estella, a widowed amateur actress, was Auerbach’s lover for [...]

Secret Portrait of Artist’s Confiscated Children to Sell at Bonhams

LONDON.- A portrait by British artist Sir Herbert James Gunn (1893-1964) of his three children, entitled Design for a Portrait Group, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its 20th Century British Art sale on 30 June 2010. It has been estimated at £40,000 – 60,000. The picture was painted in 1929, two years after Sir Herbert’s acrimonious divorce from his first wife Gwen, who had run off with Sir Arthur Whinney, one of her [...]

Rare Hampstead Scene by Christopher Wood to Sell at Bonhams

LONDON.- A London scene by English artist Christopher Wood (1901-1930), entitled Skating at Hampstead, 1929, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of its 20th Century British Art sale on 30 June 2010. It has been estimated at £50,000 – 70,000. The picture was bought by the present owner from the Redfern Gallery in 1955. Christopher Wood, who tragically died at the age of 29, is best known for his coastal scenes, paintings of Breton, largely [...]

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