Art Market

Unusual appearance of mountain views by painter whose career was cut short by tuberculosis

Bronze busts of the Queen and Prince Philip from the Oxfordshire studio of Czech émigré sculptor Franta Belsky (1921-2000) took top honours at Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on April 25.

A Newlyn School work by Albert Chevalier Tayler (1862-1926) topped David Lay’s (18% buyer’s premium) April 27 sale in Penzance.

A collection of early 20th century German works on paper, brought to England in the possession of a German academic who fled the Nazis on the eve of the Second World War, appeared at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium) on April 4-5.

A scarce complete portfolio of 26 prints from Erté’s (1892-1990) famed Alphabet Suite appeared at Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium) on April 12 in Chichester.

A view by Yorkshire artist Fred Elwell (1870-1958) of his beloved local town, Beverley, took £13,000 at local saleroom Hawleys (15% buyer’s premium) on April 9.

A painting of St Tropez by the Fauvist painter Charles Camoin (1879-1965) went under the hammer for the first time in more than half a century at Gildings (15% buyer’s premium).

Brexit, rising inflation and now the distraction of a snap general election has left a feeling in the picture trade that the good start to the year may begin to fade.

An ‘Unfashionable’ single-owner collection from a London club attracted trade and private buyers. The 98-lot sale on April 5 was held by British pictures specialist Harry Moore-Gwyn at 25 Blythe Road (20% buyer’s premium) in West Kensington.

Nearly a quarter of the sale total at the auction held by Harry Moore-Gwyn at 25 Blythe Road (20% buyer’s premium) in West Kensington on April 5 came from a collection of original cartoons.

A work by one of Lebanon’s most eminent painters, Khalil Saleeby (1870-1928), surfaced at Hansons (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Etwall in Derbyshire.

An intriguing 18th century watercolour of a tree struck by lightning fetched a multi-estimate sum at Forum Auctions’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) March 30 sale in London.

Salisbury is latest auction house finding a sense of optimism despite some patchy areas

A good mix of traditional and modern pictures drew decent bidding at Mallams’ (20% buyer’s premium) on March 16.

Demand for the delicate 20th century dynamic prints of the Grosvenor School has softened since the string of recordbreaking sales and prices taking place several years ago.

This Japanese rice paper drawing was among a number of lots to draw strong bidding at Dreweatts and Bloomsbury’s (24% buyer’s premium) offering of the Jan Krugier collection.

A trio of watercolours painted by British topographical artist Frank Dillon (1823-1909) were among the highlights of Diamond Mills’ (15% buyer’s premium) March 8 sale in Felixstowe, Suffolk.

Private works on a European theme yield strong prices in Cambridgeshire sale...

An oil of HMS Ophir moored off Halifax in Canada sold for a multi-estimate sum at George Kidner’s (19% buyer’s premium) sale in Lymington on March 2.

Among the picture highlights of Peter Wilson’s (24% buyer’s premium) Fine Art Sale on March 2 in Nantwich was a coastal sunset scene by prolific Birkenhead artist Samuel John Lamorna Birch (1869-1955).