Drawings & Pastels

Drawing is a type of graphic art created with lines and areas of tone applied to paper usually with pencil, charcoal and coloured pencil, but a wash may also be applied.

They frequently serve as preparatory studies for other works, but are also considered works of art in their own right. A practitioner of drawing is known as a draughtsman.

Pastels are created using a stick made of pure pigment and a binder.

A key part of the general art market, both are also specialist collecting areas in their own right.


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Highlights of New York drawings auctions include single-owner lots with provenance to Dutch king

14 January 2019

For many years New York’s major salerooms mounted auction series of Old Master paintings, drawings and sculpture in the first months of the year immediately following their Americana series.

Lucas van Leyden drawing

Lucas van Leyden drawing from Rugby School’s historic collection leads Old Master auction series in London

07 December 2018

The highlight of the latest series of Old Master auctions in London was not a painting this time round but a rare work on paper by an enigmatic draughtsman.

Leonardo da Vinci drawing auction

Tajan to offer Leonardo drawing after ‘national treasure’ deadline expires

14 November 2018

French auction house Tajan has announced a date next year for the sale of the Leonardo da Vinci drawing that it discovered in 2016.

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Leon Kossoff's view of King's Cross appears at Sydney sale

12 November 2018

A London scene by an important Modern British painter will be offered at Deutscher and Hackett in Sydney on November 28.

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Ballet designs take the stage at Abbott and Holder

05 November 2018

Yolanda Sonnabend’s (1935-2015) costume and stage designs helped revolutionise the look of British ballet.

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Airfix artwork brings bidding at specialist toy auction house

24 September 2018

For most enthusiasts of Airfix’s plastic construction kits, it was the company’s dramatic box artwork that caught the eye when choosing the next model to make.

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Sickert strikes a Venetian portrait pose

27 August 2018

The setting for this near-monochrome self-portrait, below, by Walter Sickert (1860-1942) is the Campo SS Giovanni e Paolo in Venice and shows the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni and the Scuola Grande di San Marco.

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'Hundred Acre Wood' map leads way to book illustration auction record

16 July 2018

The original drawing of the map of Winnie-the-Pooh’s 'Hundred Acre Wood' sold for £350,000 (plus 25/20/12% buyer’s premium) at Sotheby’s sale of English Literature, History, Science, Children’s Books and Illustration on July 9-10.

Willy Wonka

Record set for Sir Quentin Blake illustration as 40-year collection sells at auction

13 July 2018

Watercolours and drawings from the personal collection of artist Sir Quentin Blake (b. 1932) have been sold at Christie’s for over £750,000.

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Poignant wartime sketches by Artists Rifles member who was killed at Passchendaele

09 July 2018

It has been described as perhaps the most curious regiment in the British Army, but the well-known names associated with the Artists Rifles were certainly not obscure.

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Henry Moore’s hands grip bidders in Glasgow

02 July 2018

Like many artists, hands held a strong fascination for British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), and he came back to the subject numerous times in his career.

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Case study: a trip to Paris with Giacometti

25 June 2018

No two jobs are the same for the art shippers offering a bespoke service at the top end.

Henri Matisse, Portrait of Mrs Hutchinson

Henri Matisse drawing of Bloomsbury hostess fetches £2.6m at Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art auction

20 June 2018

A charcoal portrait by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) of the writer and Bloomsbury hostess Mary Hutchinson was knocked down at £2.6m at Sotheby’s latest Impressionist & Modern Art evening sale in London.

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Well-known map featured on endpapers of Winnie-the-Pooh returns to auction after nearly 50 years

11 June 2018

It was in December 2014 that Sotheby’s put an estimate of £100,000-150,000 on what it called at the time “probably the most famous and evocative illustration of the 20th century”.

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Why good Manners count for Sim

04 June 2018

This drawing, below, of the celebrated Danish ballerina Ulla Poulsen is among the pieces on offer from Sim Fine Art’s online exhibition of works by Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland (1856-1937).

Jean-Bernard Eschemann’s portrait of Marcel Proust

Works from Marcel Proust’s library raise over £650,000 at Sotheby’s auction

01 June 2018

An archive of manuscripts and books from the French novelist Marcel Proust’s library realised a premium-inclusive €750,000 (£657,895) at Sotheby’s in Paris.

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Nine different ways to bid for a Bateman

14 May 2018

What is your bidding technique? This Bateman cartoon on offer at John Nicholson’s on May 23 should strike a chord with ATG readers who remember the days before bidding paddles.

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World away from Lowry matchsticks

30 April 2018

Early works painted before an artist has adopted their signature style can make for intriguing viewing – especially if that artist is widely known.

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Multiple faces of the pastel portrait

23 April 2018

In this second part of ATG’s review of the various events held during Paris drawings week, we turn the spotlight onto one particular medium: the pastel portrait.

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Drawings week expands further

16 April 2018

Increasing number of auctions and shows around the Salon make Paris a must in March.

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