Art Market

Some areas of the secondary pictures market march to their own beat, appearing to defy the usual forces that determine value. Ancestral paintings are such a category.

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (1906-96) was one of those artists who took little pleasure in selling their work. Indeed, Motesiczky’s obituary in The Independent described her “aristocratic disdain for the marketplace” and stated that “while she half welcomed exhibitions, they remained uncomfortable experiences… she never needed to sell her paintings, indeed she preferred to keep them around her.”

An abstract creation by the revered Singaporean artist Cheong Soo Pieng (1917-83) took £15,500 at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons (20% buyer’s premium).

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £1000 and below, including an oval oil head study by the Victorian painter Joshua Hargrave Sams Mann (1826-88).

A wave of fresh interest in female artists is sweeping the UK, forcing museums and galleries to rethink their displays and purchasing policies – and driving demand at dealerships and auction houses in the process.

Scottish artist Craigie Aitchison (1926-2009) painted few subjects more obsessively throughout his career than the crucifixion.

Waterhouse & Dodd’s Jamie Anderson attributes a recent flurry of interest in the works of Dorothy Mead (1928-75) to her inclusion in the Tate Britain’s 'All Too Human' show last year.

Post-war art stored in a cupboard for “many years” by an academic institution in Leicestershire drew strong bidding for two British artists in particular at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons (20% buyer’s premium).

Art historian Magdalen Evans is holding a series of lectures on Women Artists of the Second World War for the Arts Society with the next date set for Harpenden, Hertfordshire, on March 20, followed by Colchester, Essex, in May and Ely, Cambridgeshire, in September.

Women artists – historically overlooked in scholarship and undervalued on the market – have emerged more and more at auction over the last few years.

Dreweatts’ Modern and Contemporary art sale in Newbury on April 3 will offer a range of Modern British pictures, including a selection of St Ives School group works. However, one of the main highlights in this category is a wartime painting by John Armstrong (1893-1973) which carries an estimate of £20,000-30,000.

A Cardiff estate has provided a highly useful consignment to Welsh saleroom Rogers Jones (18% buyer’s premium inc VAT) with around 45 modern British paintings in all.

A 16 x 15in (42 x 38cm) linocut by Great Bardfield artist Sheila Robinson (1925-88) more than doubled its estimate to sell for £1000 at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

Sylvia Gosse (1881-1968) was perhaps the best known of the women artists who worked closely with Camden Town Group luminary Walter Sickert.

Lyon & Turnbull is holding an auction of Modern & Contemporary art, sculpture and design at The Mall Galleries in London on March 27 under the title Modern Made.

An impressive collection of 20th century British pictures will be offered at Cheffins in Cambridge on March 21 after Hertfordshire County Council took the decision to offload them.

Among the lots drawing keen interest at Sworders’ Modern British and 20th century sale in Essex on February 26 was a privately consigned 2ft x 2ft 8in (61 x 83cm) oil on canvas of Burmese women collecting water by Royal portraitist Gerald Kelly (1879-1972).

Edward Seago (1910-74), perhaps the best-known 20th century artist who lived and worked almost exclusively in Norfolk, captured the atmosphere of his beloved East Anglia with sweeping compositions and a delicate palette.

Helped by conservatively pitched estimates, a clutch of middle-market Orientalist pictures achieved some modest growth in value on their first return to auction in three decades.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £800, including an 18th century oil on canvas