Latest News Articles by Gabriel Berner
Signature is lost in a snowdrift
30 October 2017Winter landscape. Early 20th century, possibly Russian or Scandinavian school, and ‘indistinctly signed’. That was lot 222, summed up in the catalogue at Chiswick Auctions (23% buyer’s premium) in London on October 3.
Irish art scene hit by shortage of top works
23 October 2017Since the Celtic Tiger’s demise a decade ago and the tailspin that ensued, the Irish art market has evolved into a more cautious and less speculative beast. The latest round of sales held towards the end of September and into October showed steady (if not spectacular) demand, especially for the big, bankable names.
Postcards live on in the saleroom world
23 October 2017Last month, Britain’s oldest postcard publisher, J Salmon, announced it was closing after almost 140 years of business. Blamed for its demise was the rise of selfies and social media.
Artist Jack figures highly in Yeats family collection sold at London auction
23 October 2017The Emerald Isle was not the only place selling Irish art recently. In London on September 27, Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) offered a collection of paintings and personal effects belonging to the family of Irish poet WB Yeats and his brother, artist Jack Butler Yeats.
Barret makes rare appearance at Irish hall
23 October 2017Adam’s mammoth annual Country House Collections auction is designed to cater to those with spacious, preferably period, abodes.
Where’s Wally? In the Etwall saleroom
16 October 2017Among the most coveted of all Martinware is the ‘Wally’ bird. These quirky and grotesque jars (really caricatures of people in Victorian London), were produced from the early 1880s onwards and were named after their maker Robert Wallace Martin, one of four brothers who ran the famous British pottery.
Previews: £30,000 plus
16 October 2017More than 400 objects from Howard Hodgkin’s (1932-2017) London home and studio will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s on October 24 in New Bond Street.
Reclusive artist displays surreal way to fill your Spare time
16 October 2017During his nights spent ‘fire-spotting’ for flying bombs during the Blitz, it is said the artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare (1888-1956) would while away the hours filling sketchbooks.
‘Massive interest’ greets obscure British artist’s work in Colchester
16 October 2017Half a dozen works by the obscure British artist Valentine Dobrée (1891-1974) sold for multi-estimate sums at Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on September 26-27.
Eric Gill work from a great admirer's collection
09 October 2017Modern sculpture, including a small rediscovered marine ivory piece by Eric Gill (1882-1940), took centre stage at Duke’s (22% buyer’s premium) in Dorset.
Batemans heads for the border with Berwick views
09 October 2017A pair of watercolours depicting Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northern-most town in England, turned up at Batemans (20% buyer’s premium) on September 2.
Artworks offered in Essex auction mix history and fantasy
09 October 2017A nude painting by the 19th century English artist William Etty (1787-1849) starred in Sworders’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale in Essex. The 2ft 2in x 19in (66 x 49cm) oil on panel shows a naked woman in a wooded landscape, her head and body turned away from the viewer.
