Fine Art

Two of the highest prices at auction in the last 20 years for Dame Ethel Walker (1861-1951) came at Roseberys’ (26% buyer’s premium) latest Modern British & 20th Century Art sale.

A raft of Modern and Contemporary art auctions were held in Paris in the second half of October coinciding with the Paris + par Art Basel fair held at the Grand Palais Ephemère.

Doyle’s (26% buyer’s premium) sale of Old Master and 19th century Paintings & Drawings in New York on October 19 was topped by a 15th or 16th century Flemish School oil on panel portrait of a soldier.

The most contested lot in Bonhams’ October 19 Expressionism: Germany, Austria and Beyond sale was a self-portrait by the German painter Hermann Lismann (1878-1943).

An example from Frederick Edward McWilliam’s (1909-92) 'Women of Belfast' series is being offered at Halls’ auction in Shrewsbury on December 6.

It was in the early 1950s that Prunella Clough (1919-99) ‘found’ her subject matter after touring London’s industrial wastelands and factories.

The textile works by Alighiero Boetti are instantly recognisable with their often geometric designs and brightly coloured embroidery.

Konrad Klapheck, who died at the end of July aged 88, was a pioneer of German pop art and is credited with the invention of so-called Machine Paintings.

Many 20th century works are selling very healthily at mid-range price points

The career of the French artist Pierre Soulages spanned over 80 years. He died in 2022 at the age of 102.

A rare ceramic cat given by David Hockney (b.1937) to strangers who helped him as a student fetched a record price for one of the artist’s sculptural felines when it sold at Stacey’s in Chelmsford.

A textbook 1900 oil by the French Impressionist Henry Moret (1856-1913) led the field at Clars (26% buyer’s premium) in Oakland, California, on September 14.

Pictures were a prominent part of the Robert Kime (1946-2022) aesthetic.

A never-before-seen photo of soldiers leaving Ulster to fight in the First World War and a serviceman’s diary from the trenches have been uncovered.

On November 4, Roland Auctions in New York will offer the final part of a vast gallery inventory of original prints, lithographs, etchings and paintings.

On the third day of Austin Auction Gallery’s (22% buyer’s premium) September 22-24 sale this portrait of Napoleon hammered for $15,000 (£12,400) – a multiple of the estimate of $800-1200.

Originally Roman, Portchester Castle near Portsmouth was first used to house captured enemy soldiers in 1665, when England was at war with the Netherlands.