19th Century British Art

A view of coastal Mexico was knocked down at £280,000 at Bonhams’ latest Travel and Exploration sale in Knightsbridge – a record price at auction for British topographical painter Daniel Egerton (1797-1842).

A bustling scene of Leicester Square by genre painter Edward Prentis (1797-1854) took £6800 at David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) of Penzance.

This painting of a fire in north London drew heated bidding when it went under the hammer at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (21% buyer’s premium).

The most eye-catching price at the latest series of Old Master and 19th century art sales in New York came at Sotheby’s separately staged auction of drawings from the collection of the late Howard and Saretta Barnet.

Traditional ‘country house style’ pictures were in plentiful supply at a two-day sale at Tennants of Leyburn.

A reminder of the dramatic drop in demand over recent decades for Victorian landscapes was evident in Gloucestershire where two such oils by Sidney Richard Percy (1822-86) went under the hammer.

Paintings by lesser-known Pre-Raphaelites took the honours at the latest Victorian art sales held at Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9%) and Christie’s (25/20/12.5%).

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Sotheby’s sale of 80 pieces of memorabilia relating to Lord Horatio Nelson featured a return to the saleroom of many lots acquired by the ‘Princely’ vendor in 2005.

A nude painting by the 19th century English artist William Etty (1787-1849) starred in Sworders’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale in Essex. The 2ft 2in x 19in (66 x 49cm) oil on panel shows a naked woman in a wooded landscape, her head and body turned away from the viewer.

It’s a busy season for Richard Green. Fresh from the 20/21 British Art Fair and the Paris Biennale, the Mayfair dealership will also appear at Frieze Masters and TEFAF New York Fall.

About a month ago, collector Robert Mulraine launched a website dedicated to the artist Thomas Baker of Leamington (1808-1869). A great enthusiast of the Victorian landscape painter, he has been working with the curatorial team of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to create an online ‘Memoranda of Pictures’ based on the artist’s five diaries in the museum’s collection.

Victorian landscapes can often be difficult to shift at auction, but a fine panoramic view near Redhill in Surrey by Edward John Cobbett (1815-99) gave a boost to the Boningtons (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Epping on August 21.