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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Christie’s sells Leonardo’s head of a bear drawing for £7.5m

08 July 2021

A sketch of the head of a bear by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) has sold for £7.5m at a Christie’s auction in London.

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Polish artists lead the price list in Buckinghamshire

05 July 2021

Among works by eastern European artists in demand recently, two pictures by modern Polish artists led the sale at a Buckinghamshire auction.

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Duchess daughters reunited via dealer and saleroom

28 June 2021

These pastel portraits depicting Georgiana and Henrietta Cavendish, the two legitimate daughters of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, are soon to hang side by side for the first time in over a century.

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Salon du Dessin all set for its 2021 return

14 June 2021

Drawings fair will be staged in the usual venue but dealers can also take part online

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EH Shepard art sold in Dallas

14 June 2021

An Illustration Art sale held in Dallas by Heritage (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) included a classic EH Shepard Winnie-the-Pooh work.

A Paris alternative to draw you in

07 June 2021

Although long-standing Paris fair for works on paper the Salon du Dessin has moved its dates to July 1-4, the other Paris fair, Drawing Now, devoted to Contemporary works on paper, usually staged at the same time, is taking place this month from June 10-13.

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Matisse drawing re-emerges in Aix-en-Provence auction

07 June 2021

A charcoal drawing by Henri Matisse (1869-1954) that has not been seen since the major retrospective on the artist at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1948 is to be offered at auction in Aix-en-Provence.

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Cecil Beaton celebrated as photography show takes place

07 June 2021

With a major photography exhibition under way at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire dedicated to celebrity portraits by Cecil Beaton, two satellite shows open their doors celebrating the British photographer’s costume designs and theatrical pictures.

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The web shop window: Giacometti's drawing of composer Stravinsky

24 May 2021

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

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An Italian fascination: Eton College master's collection offered at exhibition

17 May 2021

This late 18th century watercolour of the famous cascades at Neptune’s Grotto in Tivoli forms part of a private collection of works on paper currently offered in Classic Ground: Travels in Italy, an online exhibition at Karen Taylor Fine Art.

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Henry Moore sculpture design features among Bismuth collection

17 May 2021

Beaussant-Lefèvre is holding a series of sales on May 28 at the Drouot auction centre. Among them is an auction of Old Master and Modern paintings and antique furniture assembled by the collector James Bismuth (1931-2020) offered for sale by his descendants.

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Napoleon St Helena shirt and cane feature in auction to mark bicentenary of his death

05 May 2021

Napoleon’s cane made for him when in exile on St Helena and a shirt he wore there are two of the lots featured in a London auction held to mark the bicentenary of his death.

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Collection fit to take centre stage

26 April 2021

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt was one of the stand-out lots in a 300-lot white-glove auction.

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Tiepolo study motivated by motifs offered by London dealer

12 April 2021

Old Master sheets such as this lively example of satyr and Bacchus studies are believed to have served as a repertoire of motifs used in paintings or prints by the artist or their studio.

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The web shop window: John Bratby's portrait of Guy the Gorilla

12 April 2021

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

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Top sum for a van Gogh drawing at Christie's

12 April 2021

An eight-lot sale in New York titled A Family Collection: Works on Paper, Van Gogh to Freud raised a premium-inclusive total of $25.3m (£18.2m).

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Sister act – Augustus John portraits

12 April 2021

Depiction of one McNeill sister sets a record while portrait of her sibling also appears at another auction

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Realism dawns as Parker enjoys record sale

29 March 2021

A private collection of pictures helped Parker Fine Art Auctions to its highest total since opening in Farnham last year.

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Bernini drawing sets auction record

29 March 2021

An Old Master drawing by the Italian Baroque sculptor, architect and artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) sold for a hammer price of €1.55m (£1.34m) at an auction in Compiègne in France.

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The web shop window: Pablo Picasso doodle

15 March 2021

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

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