Art Market

Artist’s record broken by trademark highly detailed study of natural objects painted in tempera

A group of seven works by George Spencer Watson (1869-1934) provided a boost to Minster Auctions’ (20% buyer’s premium) recent two-day sale of fine art and antiques.

One of the most important groups of works by the artists’ colony to emerge recently indicates level of demand in this market

A strong provenance is always desirable on the secondary market, but it is essential when it comes to selling works by LS Lowry (1887-1976) - arguably Britain’s most faked artist.

Watercolour of a sleeping feline – possibly her favourite cat – takes £19,000 in Cambridge saleroom

It’s wise to keep a lid on estimates for traditional pictures where condition and market freshness is lacking

Two prominent single-owner collections put together into a single Town & Country sale at Dreweatts generated some decent if selective bidding when it came to the pictures on offer.

With an exhibition dedicated to Philip Alexius de László (1869- 1937) having just opened at Gainsborough’s House in Sudbury, lively activity in the artist’s market has also come of late.

A sense of rediscovery came at Young’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Surrey when a portrait of a figure in eye-catching red attire emerged from a local deceased estate.

Withers and Dailey selections follow hot on the heels of Turpin lots with plenty of fine art highlights

If you wanted to sum up the current state of the watercolours and works on paper sector in a single sentence, you might say something like ‘flatter than ever for general works but exceptional lots routinely generating strong interest’.

The highest price at auction for 12 years for Arthur Foord Hughes (1856-1934) came at Nottingham saleroom Mellors & Kirk (24% buyer’s premium) at the start of the year.

A mixture of leading artist, intriguing subject, ‘prominent’ background and perhaps a bit of speculation helped propel a portrait of an Indian figure to 36 times the top estimate.

Like a number of East Anglian artists, Eloise Harriet Stannard (1829-1915) has a decent following among both the trade and a core group of private collectors.

Although the late antiques dealer Maurice ‘Dick’ Turpin (1928-2005) may have been better known for his expertise in furniture and works of art, he also had an eye for a painting.

Roseberys’ sale of Modern British & 20th Century art on March 12 will include works from the collection of Bernard Sheridan (1927-2007).

A group of four pictures on offer in an Essex auction came from a vendor whose grandmother was part of the Fitzrovian set - the Bohemian group of artists and intellectuals centred around Charlotte Street in London, just north of Soho, in the 1920s-50s.

American artist Edward Hopper (1882-1967) is known for his moody views of his native New York, his paintings often imbued with garish light and contrasting bright and muted colours.

Group of works by a maker who used mostly traditional techniques creates a secondary market test