Watercolours

The American artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) is best known for the high-society ‘swagger’ portraits that had earned him fame and fortune, but the watercolours he produced in greater number are more commonly available at auction.

A watercolour by John Nixon (1755-1818) showing St Paul’s Cathedral and the City of London from Regent’s Park in the early days of the land’s development is offered at Guy Peppiatt Fine Art for £6500.

At an uncertain time bidders are assertive when the best and not the rest comes up at auction.

Stephen Ongpin deals in drawings and watercolours from the 16th-20th centuries in London, St James’s.

George Catlin’s watercolour sketches of North American Indians, reported in ATG No 2387, were the star turns as far as original artworks were concerned at Forum Auctions (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on March 28. However, two original, signed caricatures by Max Beerbohm also brought good results.

This gouache is one of around 10 drawings, watercolours and gouaches by René Gruau, the Italian-born fashion illustrator who was renowned for his Paris haute couture and promotional illustrations, which will feature in Tajan’s Paris auction of modern drawings on May 15.

A watercolour of Lindisfarne Priory off the Northumberland coast sold for more than 12 times its guide at Taunton saleroom Greenslade Taylor Hunt (19.5% buyer’s premium).

A significant collection of pictures by the Victorian watercolourist Albert Goodwin (1845-1932) was a near sell-out at auction in Suffolk and generated just under £120,000.

Previously unpublished sketches and letters by the American artist and traveller George Catlin (1796-1872) attracted multiple bidders at Forum Auctions in London.

This headstone design of a female nude by the controversial sculptor Eric Gill (1882-1940) was deemed too risky to be realised when he designed it in 1933.

Consigned from a deceased estate in Oxfordshire, a loosely bound album containing nearly 100 watercolours of marine and topographical views drew multiple bids at an Oxford saleroom.

St James’s exhibition shows works of a watercolourist seduced by British rural beauty.

Dealer Philip Mould stages 'Jewel in the Hand: Early Portrait Miniatures from Noble and Private Collections' at its Pall Mall gallery from March 12-April 18.

A lengthy provenance was key to the success of a large watercolour by the 19th century artist David Cox (1783-1859).