Art Market

More than £47m of Modern British art changed hands in a bumper series held in London, as buyers competed fiercely for blue-chip pieces and lots offering best value.

New auction records were achieved for two of the four Scottish Colourists in the space of a week.

The latest batch of period portraits to pass through Cheffins featured several from a late-16th century property in Great Chesterford, Essex. Passed by descent, the quartet was led by an attractive English School portrait of Queen Mary I (1516-58), an oil painted on an oval 2ft x 21in (62 x 53cm) canvas.

British watercolours depicting the beautiful county of Devon and painted during the medium’s golden age drew eager bidding at Cheffins of Cambridge (22.5% buyer’s premium).

Like many artists, hands held a strong fascination for British sculptor Henry Moore (1898-1986), and he came back to the subject numerous times in his career.

A good helping of late Victorian pictures featured among the top prices on June 6 at Lawrences (20% buyer’s premium) of Bletchingley in Surrey.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales including a painting by a pioneer of Iraqi modern art.

Like many businesses scarred with bomb damage in post-war Britain, Lyons teashops were in need of cheering up.

A typically moody oil by the Scottish painter James Pryde (1866-1941) was among the star lots at Cuttlestones (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Penkridge, Staffordshire.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales, including an oil on canvas of Bude in Cornwall by Charles Collins (1851-1921).

Nearly 500 lots of Modern British and 20th century art went under the hammer at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury to notch up a total of £535,000 with three-quarters sold.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales, including a watercolour by Punch illustrator Arthur George Watts (1883-1935).

“The open road, the dusty highway, the heath, the common, the hedgerows, the rolling downs!”

A plaster plaque of a mother and child drew multiple bids when it was offered at Hutchinson Scott (20% buyer’s premium) in Skipton, North Yorkshire.

A quartet of oils by the contemporary British painter Sherree Valentine-Daines (b.1959) produced multi-estimate prices when they went under the hammer in Sussex.

Though their output was dwarfed by their male counterparts, talented 20th century Irish female artists pack a punch in the saleroom when their art does appear at auction.

Three modestly valued works in regional sales including a work by Moira Beaty.

John Magnier, the Irish horse breeder and art collector, reportedly made a five-fold return on his Amadeo Modigliani reclining nude when it sold at Sotheby’s New York last month for $139m (£102.2m).

Mod Brit and contemporary selection showing a swirl of influences ‘creates a buzz’.

A trio of unsigned First World War prints by CRW Nevinson (1889-1946) sold for multi-estimate sums in a two-day sale at Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester.