Art Market

Recent acquisitions return to market as £7.1m Saudi collection is dispersed from Surrey estate.

Modern British art from a variety of movements dominated proceedings at the Spring Fine Art sale held at Tennants (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Essex saleroom Sworders (23% buyer’s premium) set a new auction high for Belle Epoque artist Albert de Belleroche (1864-1944).

Three more modestly valued works drawing attention at regional sales

Three modestly valued works drawing attention at salerooms across the UK.

A gloriously Welsh view of a jagged, grey slate quarry by JMW Turner (1775-1851) took top honours at Cardiff saleroom Rogers Jones (20% buyer’s premium).

Provenance played a key role in the performance of a small group of pictures formerly owned by one of Australia’s biggest artists, Sidney Nolan (1917-92).

An oil by the famous Maltese painter Giuseppe Cali (1846-1930) fetched a five-figure sum when it went under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent (20% buyer’s premium) in Cirencester.

Given current market conditions, watercolours can often be ‘the poor relation’ when it comes to mixed category picture sales. But examples benefitting from fine condition, colouring or execution, or a combination of these key factors, can lead to a very different outcome.

A painting of Farnham High Street from 1794 by a little-known artist fetched a not-so-little £8500 at Woolley & Wallis.

Marines and seascapes were a strong feature of Woolley & Wallis’ latest picture sale and, while there were plenty of affordable works on offer (see separate story), the sale was led by one of the larger works by a well-recognised name.

Three more modestly valued works drawing attention at Woolley & Wallis

Like Romeo and Juliet, Hellelil and Hildebrand’s relationship was doomed from the start.

The work of Dublin painter Louis le Brocquy (1916-2012) is strengthening after the value of his work went spiralling downwards at the height of the Celtic Tiger crash nearly a decade ago.

Among Horace Hone’s (1756-1825) most renowned depictions was the 18th century actress Sarah Siddons.

Contemporary art drew considerable interest at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).

British portraiture with pedigree provided plenty of action in a strong sale of pictures at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) of Cambridge.

Led by the portrait of an Italian mastiff by il Guercino (1591-1666), dogs took a starring role in the Cheffins' March 8 sale. The delightful oil of a stocky ‘Cane Corso’, perhaps the artist’s own dog, overshot a £80,000-120,000 estimate and was knocked down at £570,000 – the highest auction price in the English regions so far this year.

The sale-topper at Wilkinson’s Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium) of Doncaster in South Yorkshire was a16th century English portrait of an aristocratic lady.

A pair of trademark gouaches by Mary Fedden (1915-2012) drew strong bidding at auctions in Derbyshire and Essex.