Art Market

Three modestly valued works drawing attention at salerooms across the UK.

Given current market conditions, watercolours can often be ‘the poor relation’ when it comes to mixed category picture sales. But examples benefitting from fine condition, colouring or execution, or a combination of these key factors, can lead to a very different outcome.

Three more modestly valued works drawing attention at Woolley & Wallis

A painting of Farnham High Street from 1794 by a little-known artist fetched a not-so-little £8500 at Woolley & Wallis.

Marines and seascapes were a strong feature of Woolley & Wallis’ latest picture sale and, while there were plenty of affordable works on offer (see separate story), the sale was led by one of the larger works by a well-recognised name.

Among Horace Hone’s (1756-1825) most renowned depictions was the 18th century actress Sarah Siddons.

Like Romeo and Juliet, Hellelil and Hildebrand’s relationship was doomed from the start.

The work of Dublin painter Louis le Brocquy (1916-2012) is strengthening after the value of his work went spiralling downwards at the height of the Celtic Tiger crash nearly a decade ago.

Contemporary art drew considerable interest at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).

Led by the portrait of an Italian mastiff by il Guercino (1591-1666), dogs took a starring role in the Cheffins' March 8 sale. The delightful oil of a stocky ‘Cane Corso’, perhaps the artist’s own dog, overshot a £80,000-120,000 estimate and was knocked down at £570,000 – the highest auction price in the English regions so far this year.

The sale-topper at Wilkinson’s Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium) of Doncaster in South Yorkshire was a16th century English portrait of an aristocratic lady.

A pair of trademark gouaches by Mary Fedden (1915-2012) drew strong bidding at auctions in Derbyshire and Essex.

British portraiture with pedigree provided plenty of action in a strong sale of pictures at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

This 23in x 2ft 7in (59 x 80cm) oil on canvas is attributed to Blanche Hoschedé-Monet (1865-1947), the step-daughter and daughter-in-law of Claude Monet.

A painting by the obscure Welsh artist James Dickson Innes (1887-1914) generated keen bidding at Essex saleroom Stacey’s (24% buyer’s premium) on February 26.

A picture by Bloomsbury Group painter Roger Fry (1886-1934) drew strong bidding at Holloway’s in Banbury.

More than 100 paintings owned by the Royal Society of Marine Artists were dispersed in a Norfolk auction.

The Buckinghamshire countryside, with its rolling hills, fields, hedgerows and trees, inspired much of the art of John Nash (1893-1977), the younger and less well-known brother of Paul Nash.

The 20th century portraitist Meredith Frampton (1894-1984) achieved remarkable success in a relatively short career.

When it comes to the business of selling middle-market collections, the big London salerooms are particularly adept at cherry-picking the best and rejecting the rest.