1. A 13 x 10in (34 x 26cm) oil on canvas laid on board sold above its £120-160 estimate at Clarke & Simpson Auctions in Suffolk on May 16. Charles Lutyens (1829-1915), a former military captain turned professional painter, executed many such works but it is his equine portraits that can make a five-figure price.
2. Lydia Corbett (b.1934), aka Sylvette David, made her name as ‘the girl with the ponytail’ in Picasso’s critically acclaimed Sylvette series of paintings in the 1950s. An artist herself, she painted this signed 15 x 19in (38 x 48cm) watercolour, Home Thoughts, which sold above its £250-350 guide at Mallams Oxford on May 17.
3.This picture was among a trio at Chorley’s in Gloucestershire on May 15 from the estate of Duffy Ayers, first wife of Michael Rothenstein who was the son of William Rothenstein (1872-1945) – the artist here. The small 10 x 7½in (25 x 19cm) portrait of an unidentified woman, in chalk and pastel, almost doubled the top guide.
Prices do not include buyer’s premium
