Watercolours

Artist’s huge and intrictately detailed watercolours depict famous capital landmarks

A previously unknown sketchbook of watercolours and drawings relating to the California Gold Rush took £16,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Chiswick Auctions.

Between reserving various pieces to museums, Guy Peppiatt was pleased to sell a large watercolour of Yorkshire by Peter de Wint (1748- 1849) during the latest London Art Week (LAW).

Ben Rogers Jones was a happy man after the latest Welsh Sale at Rogers Jones (24/15% buyer’s premium) in Cardiff.

Another high price for Helen Bradley (1900-79) came at Cheshire saleroom Wilson55 (22% buyer’s premium) last month.

A romanticised view of Venice by Austrian painter Franz Richard Unterberger (1838-1902) led the latest fine art sale staged by Cambridge saleroom Cheffins (24.5% buyer’s premium).

Two fresh-to-the-market watercolours with appealing subjects by major names in the Modern British market, perhaps understandably, drew attention at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) latest specialist sale in this category.

The market for drawings and watercolours, both modern and traditional, has long been regarded as delicate ground – sensitive towards estimates, market freshness and condition.

A good number of lots offered at Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) on June 17-18 demonstrated the demand that can emerge for works on paper pitched at attractive levels.

For collectors on a budget, works on paper can provide a more accessible route to acquiring works by key artists.

Recent biography, major show and strong auction prices suggest younger Nash is on the rise.

A look at highlights from dealers and summer auctions in the UK.

An early view of Port Adelaide in Australia drew a flurry of overseas interest when it appeared at a recent auction in Massachusetts.

A previously unrecorded family archive relating to Richard Grindall (1751-1820), an able seaman aboard Cook’s Second Voyage, surfaced for sale in London last week with spectacular results.

The original watercolour draught for Sydney Harbour Bridge that featured on the front page of ATG No 2538 was bought by the Australian National Maritime Museum, it has been revealed.

In his next exhibition London dealer Guy Peppiatt focuses on the drawings of John Downman (1750-1824) and George Romney (1734-1802), two contemporaneous British artists who at first glance seem very different.

Self-portrait sold to National Portrait Gallery by dealer who also plans an exhibition

Cyril Arthur Farey (1888-1954) was one of the most renowned British architectural draughtsmen of the 20th century.

The Kent artist William Stephen Tomkin (1861-1940) is best known as a proficient watercolour painter of marine subjects and a draughtsman who worked for General August Pitt Rivers (of Oxford museum fame) between 1882-90.