Drawings & Pastels

What is your bidding technique? This Bateman cartoon on offer at John Nicholson’s on May 23 should strike a chord with ATG readers who remember the days before bidding paddles.

Early works painted before an artist has adopted their signature style can make for intriguing viewing – especially if that artist is widely known.

In this second part of ATG’s review of the various events held during Paris drawings week, we turn the spotlight onto one particular medium: the pastel portrait.

Increasing number of auctions and shows around the Salon make Paris a must in March.

Guy Peppiatt specialises in 18th and 19th century British watercolours and drawings and is based in Mason’s Yard, St James’s.

Christie’s has two dedicated drawings sales, one devoted to Old Master and 19th century works on March 21, the other to modern works on paper on March 22.

The roster of exhibitor names at the Salon du Dessin underscores the international standing of this specialist event. Although it is organised by a committee of Paris dealers, more than half the participants come from overseas.

Sotheby’s has something special to offer for the Paris drawings fest – a single-owner collection formed by a dedicated couple that, say the auctioneers, is the fruit of a life dedicated to a passion for painting and drawings.

There is, of course, no shortage of works on paper to be found on sale at the Drouot auction centre either in the form of dedicated auctions or as sections within mixed-discipline sales.

It is time to celebrate the art of works on paper in Paris. Centred around the 27-year-old specialist fair, the Salon du Dessin, held from March 21-26, will be a whole roster of auctions, fairs, dealers’ selling shows and events in the city’s museums and institutions.

Artcurial has a large number of works on paper as part of its March 21 auction of Old Master and 19th century paintings and drawings at its Paris rooms, accounting for around 40% of the 195 lots.

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.

Works on paper, not oil paintings, stole the show at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne.

A pastel portrait of a fashionable young Georgian woman in an ostrich feather hat and blue coat with her dog topped the picture section at Lincolnshire saleroom Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium).