Modern British Art

The prolific artist Percy Kelly (1918-93) was averse to the limelight and only a few of his paintings were shown publicly during his life. But a major retrospective at the Tullie House gallery Carlisle in 2015 and a birth centenary last year has helped raise the Cumbrian artist’s profile.

Inspired by LS Lowry, the self-taught Mancunian artist Fred Yates (1922-2008) set out to paint pictures about the lives of ordinary people. These canvases – ranging from the industrial architecture and street life of Manchester to the sunnier scenes he painted after his move to Cornwall in 1969 – attract a loyal following on the secondary market.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £2200, including an unsigned oil on board, attributed to the English Vorticist Frederick Etchells.

A group of First World War pastels depicting members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps harvesting peat moss for use in field dressings are typical of the variety collectors will find at the 'British Art Fair' (BAF).

MADAM – Last year I bought a basket-case of a canvas from an artist’s estate for £400. I then spent many hundreds of pounds on a new support, re-stretching, cleaning and re-framing and eventually sold it for a profit.

Marking 20 years in business, Clark Art is holding a show featuring works by some of the key artists it has championed across two decades.

Before an artist achieves ‘blue chip’ status, there is often a watershed moment in the market – a result – that makes people sit up and take note. For the Salford painter LS Lowry (1887-1976) this was the purchase of 'Going To The Match' in 1999 at Sotheby’s by the Professional Footballers’ Association.

Following our guide to Artist’s Resale Right (ATG No 2404) and now published in the Guides section of this website, we have a received a number of enquiries from readers asking for further information.

Teacher’s single-owner collection stands out as part of Modern and Contemporary art sale.

Estimated at £100-150, this mid-20th century portrait of a fashionably dressed young woman attracted a flurry of bids at Sherborne saleroom Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium).

Founders who started out in Cornwall showcase four Mod Brit artists hailing from St Ives.

Bernard Jacobson, who has bought and dealt in works by artists such as Henri Matisse, David Hockney and Ben Nicholson, is not afraid to show off a little.

This still-life painting by Joan Gillchrest (1918-2008), offered for £1995, is part of an online exhibition staged by Devon dealership British Ceramics and Paintings.

'View from the Back of 72 Bute Street' is one of the pictures by Welsh painter Charles Burton available at Martin Tinney Gallery this month.

MADAM – I have just read the article on the painting by Richard Lin sold recently in the McCartneys Ludlow auction for £84,000 (Art Market, ATG No 2401).

MADAM – I’m sure I’m not the first to write about this but could the inscription on the mount of the picture attributed to Glyn Philpot (Art Market, ATG No 2399) have read or was meant to be C Phillott?