The Modern & Contemporary Art sale at Dreweatts in Donnington Priory on March 19 is headed by this 2ft x 20in (60 x 50cm) oil on board by Sir John Lavery (1856-1941).
Signed and titled Hyde Park Corner, November 29, 1934, the subject is the wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. They were married first in a Church of England ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a Greek Orthodox service at the private chapel in Buckingham Palace.
The work was exhibited at the Glasgow Art Club in 1935 where it was described in The Scotsman as a picture with ‘remarkable verve and dexterity. The great crowd is suggested by the merest articulation, and with a table effect of perspective, the royal carriage and procession in the foreground.’
Estimate £20,000-30,000.
dreweatts.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
This bronze relief plaque titled No Man’s Land is by Charles Sargeant Jagger (1885-1934) – sculptor of the Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner. It depicts a ‘listening post’ with a soldier hiding across the wire among the corpses, broken stretchers and barbed wire to listen for the enemy.
The original version of this relief, presented to the Tate Gallery in 1923, was over 9ft 10in (3m) wide. This much smaller ‘maquette’ measuring 7 x 20in (17 x 49cm) is found in three different versions: this is probably one of seven cast shortly after Jagger’s death in 1935.
Brought to Special Auction Services in Newbury on a valuation day, it goes under the hammer on March 31 with expectations of £20,000-25,000.
specialauctionservices.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
