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Art and antiques news from 2004

In 2004 Nicholas Bonham left Bonhams. It was the first time there was no family member on the board in the firm's history.
 
A blaze at Momart's London warehouse destroyed about £40 million of art including important contemporary and Modern pictures.
 
A crowd of more than 800 people in the saleroom watched as Young Lady Seated at the Virginals, a newly acknowledged work by Johannes Vermeer, sold at Sotheby's for £14.5 million.
 

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Where the money is...

18 August 2004

IN The Sunday Telegraph of July 25, Sarah Jane Checkland offered that old chestnut “what paintings sell”. Much of the analysis was predictable – “paintings of women and children outstrip those of men and the younger and more attractive the better” and “prospects are grim for dead animals”. However, a few results of her survey were more intriguing.

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Shapes sell Traquair works

18 August 2004

HELPED by contacts with the Traquair family, Shapes have a great track record selling the work of Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936), the Dublin-born mixed-media artist who became a leading member of Scotland’s Arts and Crafts movement.

Sotheby’s paint a healthier picture for first half of 2004

18 August 2004

PABLO Picasso’s Garçon à la pipe boosted Sotheby’s second quarter sales considerably, alone accounting for about 9.5 per cent of the total.

...and where, sadly, the money isn’t

18 August 2004

WHILE some painters, such as Jack Vettriano (b. 1954) and Royal Academician Ken Howard (b. 1932), seem to be able to sell their canvases almost before the paint has dried, many other artists are finding it a precarious market. Contemporary art might be the current buzz word, but it remains a fickle business, with buyers far too focused on seeking out the work of a few A-list names.

Gallery’s collection from studio outranks RA’s ‘magnus opus’

18 August 2004

AT the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition this year, the end wall of Gallery II was completely taken up with a work which John Hoyland, Professor of Painting at the Academy Schools, described as “Terry Frost’s magnum opus”.

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Far from his snowy fells, Farquharson sells at £17,000 on his break by sea

18 August 2004

PAINTINGS offered at Lyon & Turnbull’s (17.5% buyer's premium) July 21 Jordantone dispersal were mostly comfortable furnishing pictures of some quality including this uncharacteristic Joseph Farquharson oil, right, entitled Fisherwoman on a Deserted Sandy Beach. Very different from the artist’s trademark mix of sheep, heather and swirling snow, the 22in x 3ft (55x 91cm) image of a solitary figure walking barefoot on the shimmering sand went to a private buyer at £17,000.

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Rare and not-so-rare Liberty

18 August 2004

PICTURED here are two pieces of Liberty & Co metalwork sold by Fieldings (12.5% buyers premium) of Hagley on July 17. The 8in (20cm) high pewter timepiece, top right, with a central copper and enamel dial with two enamel cabochons to the base, is a recorded design by Archibald Knox. The case, still with original patina, is fitted with a Lenzkirch brass bodied movement (the original key fitted to the door) and the base stamped 0370 Tudric.

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Nelson takes his leave on shore

18 August 2004

OCTOBER 21, 2005 will see the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar and many celebrations marking the most decisive naval victory in modern history are planned. However, it will not be until January 9, 2006 that we mark 200 years since the funeral of its most famous protagonist.

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FitzRoy and forecasts – the perfect mix

18 August 2004

ADMIRAL Robert FitzRoy (1805-1865) has several claims to fame. He was companion to Darwin on the Beagle, the first Head of Meteorology at the Board of Trade (the Met Office) and, using the newly invented electric telegraph, one of the first to attempt a scientific weather forecast. His first daily weather forecasts were published in The Times in 1860, thus introducing the British public to a new pastime – complaining that the forecasters got it wrong.

Preview

18 August 2004

THE August 25 sale at Burton-on-Trent auctioneers Richard Winterton includes a collection of studio pottery formed since the 1950s by the vendor who trained under, and for over 49 years has been a friend of, David Leach.

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A case in point

18 August 2004

ART case pianos, as their name implies, are instruments with very decorative cases painted or elaborately inlaid, and usually one-off commissions.

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Touch of Frost over 60 years

18 August 2004

ON view at the Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, these two works by the late Sir Terry Frost represent a gap of some 60 years.

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Old standards sell alongside new fancies

18 August 2004

SOME steady selling of material which has been hard to shift of late provided some encouragement for the trade generally at Lawrences of Bletchingley's (12.5 buyer's premium) July 20-22 sale and among the 2000 lots – which totalled nearly £200,000 – there were enough of those quirky offerings which make provincial British auctions the fascinating events they can be.

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Bumper harvest after minor expectations

18 August 2004

IT is frequently the unusual and the decorative that the market craves today. The ‘peach’ of the sale conducted by Kidson-Trigg (15% buyer’s premium) of Highworth, near Swindon on July 22 was certainly both, a group of 14 painted and carved wood and gesso models of fruit, pictured right.

Preview

18 August 2004

One of the most mysterious objects in Bonhams’ Made in Scotland sale from August 18-20, was a fascinating 18th century anamorphic painting – one of a whole class of pictures that required cylindrical mirrors to view the true image.

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Touch of Frost over 60 years

18 August 2004

ON view at the Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, these two works by the late Sir Terry Frost represent a gap of some 60 years.

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20th century talent spotting

18 August 2004

ONE of the most exciting aspects of the ever-growing interest in 20th century British art is the opportunity it offers to rediscover significant, but neglected, talent of the period. For those with a keen eye and prepared to look beyond the mere ‘big’ names, there really are some impressive things out in the market place. Such works, of course, also have the added bonus, more often than not, of falling into the category of affordability.

Fine art imports to UK cut by a quarter for 2003: Value of pictures coming from Switzerland drops 63 per cent

18 August 2004

THE latest figures published by Customs and Excise show a large decline in fine art imports to the UK for 2003.

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Fame is the spur for plates

18 August 2004

THE general strength of the Sèvres market was reinforced in spades by the very strong prices paid for two plates that featured in Christie’s King Street sale on July 5. Both are from celebrated services and both have the type of bold, slightly more masculine decoration that is currently fashionable.

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Teapot is cream of crop

18 August 2004

WITH the King Street sale devoted entirely to Continental material, it was left to Christie’s South Kensington rooms to offer a home-grown element with the morning half of their sizeable 393-lot, June 24 British and Continental ceramics offering.