Art Market

The prolific artist Percy Kelly (1918-93) was averse to the limelight and only a few of his paintings were shown publicly during his life. But a major retrospective at the Tullie House gallery Carlisle in 2015 and a birth centenary last year has helped raise the Cumbrian artist’s profile.

Inspired by LS Lowry, the self-taught Mancunian artist Fred Yates (1922-2008) set out to paint pictures about the lives of ordinary people. These canvases – ranging from the industrial architecture and street life of Manchester to the sunnier scenes he painted after his move to Cornwall in 1969 – attract a loyal following on the secondary market.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £2200, including an unsigned oil on board, attributed to the English Vorticist Frederick Etchells.

A group of First World War pastels depicting members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps harvesting peat moss for use in field dressings are typical of the variety collectors will find at the 'British Art Fair' (BAF).

Reinagle’s equine portrait painted in Reading brewery brings £15,000 at Salisbury sale

A busier than usual summer for the local housing market appeared to boost both vendor consignments and bidding at Market Harborough auctioneers Gildings (18% buyer’s premium).

It was while working as a studio assistant to Lord Leighton in the early 1860s that John Emms (1841-1912) travelled to Lyndhurst in the New Forest, a trip that would define his career as a painter of dog portraits and sporting scenes.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £3000.

Before an artist achieves ‘blue chip’ status, there is often a watershed moment in the market – a result – that makes people sit up and take note. For the Salford painter LS Lowry (1887-1976) this was the purchase of 'Going To The Match' in 1999 at Sotheby’s by the Professional Footballers’ Association.

These two portraits – one painted in colourful hues by a known hand, the other unattributed and executed in monochrome – were the star picture lots at a lively auction in East Sussex.

Teacher’s single-owner collection stands out as part of Modern and Contemporary art sale.

Estimated at £100-150, this mid-20th century portrait of a fashionably dressed young woman attracted a flurry of bids at Sherborne saleroom Charterhouse (25% buyer’s premium).

An Abstract work by the 20th century Filipino artist Oscar Zalameda (1930-2010) emerged as the star lot in an interiors auction in West Sussex.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at under £1000, including a Ronald Ossory Dunlop late work.

Surrey saleroom bucks the trend to hold dedicated picture auctions on regular basis

A clutch of 19th and 20th century marine and maritime pictures attracted competitive bidding in summer sales held at three auction houses in southern England.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales at £2000 or under, including Bonnie Prince Charlie portrait.

Mid-20th century animal study contrasts with traditional ornithological work in same auction.

Drawing keen interest at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Derbyshire last month was a work by Belgian painter Francois Joseph Navez (1787-1869), an artist who rarely appears in the UK salerooms.

One of the highest prices for Albert Chevallier Tayler (1862-1925) at a UK auction in the last 10 years was achieved at Roseberys’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest picture sale when a late Victorian ‘period’ scene attracted multiple bidders.