The resulting hardback mini-catalogue printed as a small book in a limited edition of 100 is devoted to Jack Simcock (1929-2012). Born to a mining family in Staffordshire, he studied at Burslem School of Art and specialised in stark, sombre oils of the area he lived in: the moorlands and hillsides of Biddulph and Mow Cop.
The January 26 auction next year (rearranged from November 24) features 40 Simcock works.
Chapman says: “This is a great collection mostly from his prime period, 1965-75. Most were sold by his main gallery Piccadilly Gallery in Cork Street, London, which held very successful annual exhibitions of his paintings from 1956-81 – and would have carried on if he hadn’t radically changed his style to colourful abstracts.”
Simcock’s work is held in many museum collections.
Pictured above is Sheds and Stone Wall, 1974, estimated at £1200-1800 in the January 26 auction, an oil on board measuring 2ft x 2ft 6in (62 x 77cm).
