Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Second slice from Country Life gardens editor's collection includes many works on a plants theme
20 July 2020A second tranche of works from the estate of Tony Venison, the long-serving gardens editor of Country Life, lifted the latest Modern British and 20th century art auction at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium).
Early Cedric Morris works draw interest at Sworders
20 July 2020Cedric Morris (1889-1982) is now a major name in the Mod Brit market whose most bountiful flower paintings can sell for over £100,000. While Sworders has a strong track-record with the artist-plantsman, works depicting two rather different subjects were offered at the latest sale in this category.
Three buyers for four Bawden drawings at Essex auction
20 July 2020Edward Bawden (1903-89) is an artist whose work appears frequently at Sworders.
Four salerooms, One $420m sale for Christie’s
20 July 2020Christie’s first ‘relay-style’ auction, an event with four auctioneers in different countries each conducting a section of the sale, raised a total of $420.9m (£334.9m) including premium.
Top stories this week – including news of a £12 box of bric-a-brac yielding a rare sculpture now offered at Christie’s
19 July 2020The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of a Mannerist bronze by Antonio Susini (1580-1624) discovered in a box of bric-a-brac and now being offered at Christie’s in London.
Three continents, four auctioneers, 80 lots and 80,000 online watchers: Christie’s ‘One’ sale brings $421m
16 July 2020A late work by Roy Lichtenstein topped the bill at Christie’s first ‘relay-style’ auction. The sale involved four auctioneers in different countries each conducting a section of the sale with the venues linked-up together via live streaming.
Contemporary art from British Airways collection heads to Sotheby’s
16 July 2020Seventeen works from the collection of British Airways will be offered across two Sotheby’s auctions in London this month as the embattled airline seeks to raise cash after its business was badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Princeteau paintings chased down at Roseberys
13 July 2020A group of seven works from a private collection by René Charles Pierre Princeteau (1843-1919) appeared at the Roseberys sale on June 4, all of them selling for a combined £72,100. Interest was reported from France, Belgium and the US.
How Old Master estimates work when it comes to loosely ascribed paintings
13 July 2020Pitching a work at the right level is crucial to demand and price when it comes to selling unattributed or loosely ascribed Old Masters at auction.
Modest estimates at Hawleys fuel strong bidder demand
13 July 2020Two pictures from local deceased estates drew solid competition at a recent sale at East Yorkshire auction house Hawleys (20% buyers premium) thanks to being offered with ‘there-to-be-sold’ estimates.
EM Forster portrait sets auction record for Fry
06 July 2020Providing a major boost to Bonhams’ first sale in London with room bidding since the lockdown, a portrait of the writer EM Forster by Roger Fry (1866-1934) set an auction record both for the artist and any Bloomsbury Group picture.
Francis Bacon stars at Sotheby's in the first summer ‘super sale’
06 July 2020Sotheby’s held the first of this summer’s ‘super sales’ last week as it combined a series of three Modern and Contemporary art auctions into a marathon four-and-a-half hour live-streamed event.
German artist's view of Oxford from afar brings bidding at Sherborne sale
06 July 2020The German-born watercolourist and musician John Baptist Malchair (c.1730-1812) was a key figure in 18th century Oxford.
Local scenes lift Cornish art offered in Penzance
06 July 2020As might be expected, local scenes were an important feature of David Lay’s Cornish art sale on June 11. Among them was a view of Penzance’s Market Jew Street by Norman Garstin (1847-1926) that depicted a location only a 10-minute walk from the saleroom.
Auctioneers in Dorset and Cornwall benefit from vendors with close links to famous artists
06 July 2020Consignments from vendors with a close connection to famous artists are always a welcome boon for any auction.
Lowry’s rugby crowd posts online-only record for Christie's
03 July 2020Leading a dedicated sale of works by LS Lowry, a painting believed to be the artist’s only picture relating to a rugby match set the highest price so far at an online-only auction at Christie's.
Pick of the week: Harry Becker's farmhands shine in Mid-Summer
29 June 2020This 8 x 10in (21 x 25cm) oil on canvas board sketch of two farmhands cutting grasses with a scythe is unsigned but it carries a label on the back from an Ipswich Borough Council exhibition which identifies the artist as Harry Becker (1865-1928) and the picture’s title as Fieldworkers in Mid-Summer.
Partridge adds weight in lockdown
29 June 2020‘Freshness and sensible estimates’ contribute to record 5016 registrants for Macclesfield sale.
Paoletti’s postcards from Venice shine in Maidenhead
29 June 2020A trio of oils by Venetian artist Antonio Ermolao Paoletti (1834-1912) were consigned to Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) of Maidenhead from a private London collection.
Overall total at Christie’s Classic Week falls as sales pushed back until the autumn
25 June 2020The postponement of three top-end paintings and objects sales meant that the overall total generated by Christie’s latest ‘Classic Week’ in New York was well down on previous years.