Art Market

Two pictures with animal appeal generated decent bidding at a North Yorkshire auction.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Harry Clarke.

Leading works held back until mixed-category July auctions in a drawn-out sales season.

While Sotheby’s and Christie’s shifted their main Old Master offerings to the end of July, Bonhams (27.5/25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) maintained its auction earlier in the month with a sale in New Bond Street on July 7-8.

A mix of works across different periods and genres drew attention at the first Pictures through the Ages auction at Mallams (27% buyer’s premium) of Oxford.

A group of works on paper generated decent action at Keys’ (20% buyer’s premium) online-only sale of 20th Century design and modern art this summer.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including an work on paper by Sir Edwin Landseer.

Just three lots unsold in Edinburgh auction as private and international bidders dominate

The contents of a country house in Exmouth turned up not one but two large watercolours by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), the pre-eminent British painter of ornithological subjects.

Good art at a great price in regional sales

Four pictures in Colchester sale provide a good case study in the factors affecting John Constable attributions and buyer confidence

Two works by Fred Stead (1863-1940) drew strong interest at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in West Sussex thanks, in part, to here-to-be-sold estimates. They were being consigned from a deceased estate.

Good art at a great price in regional sales.

A second tranche of works from the estate of Tony Venison, the long-serving gardens editor of Country Life, lifted the latest Modern British and 20th century art auction at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium).

Cedric Morris (1889-1982) is now a major name in the Mod Brit market whose most bountiful flower paintings can sell for over £100,000. While Sworders has a strong track-record with the artist-plantsman, works depicting two rather different subjects were offered at the latest sale in this category.

Edward Bawden (1903-89) is an artist whose work appears frequently at Sworders.

In a letter to his brother, written in 1883, Vincent van Gogh expressed his admiration for the Swiss painter Albert Anker.

Pitching a work at the right level is crucial to demand and price when it comes to selling unattributed or loosely ascribed Old Masters at auction.

A group of seven works from a private collection by René Charles Pierre Princeteau (1843-1919) appeared at the Roseberys sale on June 4, all of them selling for a combined £72,100. Interest was reported from France, Belgium and the US.

Two pictures from local deceased estates drew solid competition at a recent sale at East Yorkshire auction house Hawleys (20% buyers premium) thanks to being offered with ‘there-to-be-sold’ estimates.