Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
Art market: The bidding battle of Cape St Vincent
24 May 2021Trio of family paintings depicting Jervis’ finest hour bring £90,000 result for marine specialist Charles Miller
The £36,000 tale of Maud Lewis and her $10 oils
24 May 2021A group of naive oils found boxed up during a house move drew strong interest at Hanson Holloway’s Ross (25% buyer’s premium), making a combined £36,000.
Metal detectorists’ bronze discoveries sell for £185,000 at Hansons
20 May 2021A hoard of Romano-British bronzes, including a bust believed to represent Emperor Marcus Aurelius, has sold at Hansons for £185,000.
Victorian art collection comes to Dreweatts from family of artist Samuel Pepys Cockerell
19 May 2021A group of nine pictures directly from the family of the artist Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1844-1921) will be offered at Dreweatts in Newbury later this month.
Auction house department heads from Bonhams and Christie's become dealers
17 May 2021Two long-standing auction department heads launch second careers as dealers this month.
Flagship Modern and Contemporary art auctions return to form in New York
17 May 2021The latest flagship sales of Modern and Contemporary art in New York showed a return to some normality after a difficult 14 months.
Owner was key to Strong demand
17 May 2021Works from either a distinguished collection or well-known owner offered with appealing estimates are an enticing prospect at auction.
Artist destined to cover wildlife and nature
17 May 2021As the son of an entomologist and ornithologist, the artist David Morrison Reid-Henry (1919-77) was destined for a career observing wildlife and nature.
Affordable art: Three works sold for under £700 including a Cornish scene by James P Power
17 May 2021Good art at a great price in regional sales.
Sotheby’s shakes up its Old Masters and Fine Art teams
10 May 2021Sotheby’s has made changes to its Old Master department in London.
Printing money: wall power and connoisseurship on a budget
10 May 2021Modern prints can offer the chance to own interesting and eye-catching works, including those by well-known artists, without needing to invest large sums of money. This makes prints a viable option for collectors on a smaller budget as well as those just starting out.
Learning the market for Grosvenor School
10 May 2021The linocuts produced by artists from the Grosvenor School in London, which ran from 1925-40, have been one of the liveliest areas of the Modern British prints market in the last 15-20 years.
A Polish printmaker in a Welsh mining village
10 May 2021Most prints are closely connected with an artist’s wider oeuvre. A few good Welsh examples were on offer at Rogers Jones (22% buyer’s premium) in Cardiff on April 17.
The Curwen Studio archive dispersed
10 May 2021Among the publishing houses that helped put Modern British prints on the map was The Curwen Studio.
A prime period Nicholson print sells at Dawsons
10 May 2021'Five Circles' first appeared as part of Ben Nicholson’s (1894-1982) publication 23 Gravures in 1934 and was then released as a limited-edition print. The initial run of approximately 30 signed copies was followed by various reprintings.
Benin plaque withdrawn from auction after curator raises provenance questions
03 May 2021The increasingly contentious issue of selling Benin works of art at auction raised its head again last week after an ancestral plaque catalogued as 16th or 17th century was withdrawn from an East Sussex sale.
Edward Seago: the artist favoured by the royal family
03 May 2021Edward Seago was a favourite of the establishment, royals in particular, but has a wider appeal such as his views of Hong Kong
Old Masters impress in Berkshire
03 May 2021The best competition at a recent mixed-category sale came for two Old Masters.
Ostrich ruffles feathers at £1.41m
26 April 2021A bronze sculpture of an ostrich catalogued as from the workshop of Mannerist sculptor Giambologna drew an extraordinary competition in Cambridge.
Pick of the week: Gainsborough back in dealer’s hands
26 April 2021A work thought to be one of Thomas Gainsborough’s (1727-88) earliest attempts at oil painting as well as his earliest-known self-portrait was one of a number of lots drawing considerable attention at Cheffins.