Modern British Art

A single-owner collection, including significant works from the Modern British canon, sold for £541,200 at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet last week.

Henry Adams has achieved an auction record for Cedric Morris (1889-1982), completing a hat-trick of high prices for the artist-plantsman at the Chichester saleroom.

Sensual, satirical and grotesque: the works of Beresford Egan (1905-84) certainly fit a description of ‘distinctive’.

'Fish and Lemon', painted in 1964, is among the 65 works included in Portland Gallery’s show on Mary Fedden (1915-2012) opening this week.

Gerald Brockhurst (1890-1978) was already an established etcher when his captivating canvases of society women catapulted him to fame during the interwar years.

Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) was the toast of London during the latest Victorian art sales held in the capital, where buyers continued to covet blue-chip Pre-Raphaelite art, market-fresh material – and invest in female names.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

New independent art fair targets younger and fresh customers with competitive prices

'Cave Painting I' by British artist Jean Cooke (1927- 2008) is among the works on offer at Piano Nobile’s exhibition 'A Modern Venus'.

Twentieth century British art specialist Jamie Anderson has worked for 20 years at Waterhouse & Dodd, where he also deals with US and European paintings and sculptures.

Works by major names in modern art are available in north London this month. The annual London Art Fair might have a contemporary focus, with many of the attending dealerships and surrounding projects concentrating on recent works, but a healthy supply of older 20th century art for buyers is available to snap up from established galleries.

A single-owner private collection, including significant works by artists from the Modern British canon, will be sold at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on January 15.

Thompson’s Gallery in Aldeburgh uses its annual Christmas exhibition to showcase works by historic artists such as John Maclauchlan Milne (1885-1957), whose oil on canvas The Hay Cole (1920), below, is offered for £6750.

“When I was putting this exhibition together, a lot of people thought I would not be able to find 50 different women British artists to show. In the end, I could have shown 500,” says Sacha Llewellyn of 20th century British art specialist Liss Llewellyn.

Has Bowie made a difference? This question has been doing the rounds in Modern British circles since 2016 when Sotheby’s offered the highly publicised collection of David Bowie.

Few events shaped British art more in the 20th century than war. As commemorations reached a pinnacle during the centenary month of the First World War, the November Mod Brit series presented an opportune moment to sell art directly related to the conflict.

Anna Wakerley of Oriel Fine Art specialises in pre- and post-war Modern British painting.