Latest News Articles by Alex Capon
‘Charming and dream-like’ Joseph Southall picture sails to £30,000 at Tennants
30 July 2025The highest auction price for Joseph Edward Southall (1861-1944) for eight years came at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) latest British, European & Sporting Art sale.
Bloomsbury pictures come to the fore at York saleroom’s first Modern Art sale
29 July 2025Three Bloomsbury Group paintings, two by Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and one by Vanessa Bell (1879-1961), lit up the inaugural Modern Art sale at Duggleby Stephenson of York (25% buyer’s premium).
View of the Louvre adds European flavour to south London sale
25 July 2025Underlining the potential of artworks still to draw European interest in the post-Brexit market, a good number of pictures brought notable bidding from across the Channel at a recent Roseberys auction.
Phillips raises buyer’s premium – but reduces it for ‘early engagement’
23 July 2025Auction house Phillips has introduced a new format for its buyer’s premium.
Rosa Bonheur deer study makes 16 times estimate in Surrey auction
23 July 2025French artist Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists as ‘a colourful and formidable character, outspoken in her feminine independence’.
Last of the Spencer collection reunites Stanley and Hilda
21 July 2025Billed as ‘the last opportunity to own something very personal from the family’s own collection’, a group of drawings, paintings, letters and memorabilia relating to Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) came to auction from one of the artist’s descendants at Dreweatts.
Memories of the North: Robert Jobling pictures come to auction
21 July 2025A group of works by Robert Jobling (1841-1923), a leading figure in the artistic circles of late 19th century Tyneside, has come to Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland.
Canaletto allows for positive view of the London Old Master series
21 July 2025For a sector often tainted by an inadequate supply of fresh and top-draw material, the latest series of Old Master auctions in London certainly had moments where the core market woes seemed mysteriously absent.
Positive faces helped by primary provenance at Bonhams
21 July 2025Three portraits that came fresh to the market with an unbroken provenance drew strong interest at Bonhams’ latest Old Master auction in London.
Copy of Hokusai’s ‘Great Wave’ print makes £300,000 at Dreweatts
18 July 2025A hammer price of £300,000 sounds like a pretty hefty sum for any print sold in the UK regions. But when it comes to the legendary Katsushika Hokusai’s (1760-1849) ‘Great Wave’, it’s actually a relatively middling amount.
Bawden prints in demand as artworks from Kent County Council’s collection make over £40,000 at auction
16 July 2025A group of prints tucked away in the basement of Kent County Council’s County Hall in Maidstone has sold at a Sworders auction.
Sotheby’s launches ‘The Specialist’ podcast series
15 July 2025Sotheby’s has launched a new series of podcasts titled ‘The Specialist’ in which the auction house’s experts give a behind-the-scenes look at the auction world.
Stanley Spencer ‘personal’ lots sold at Dreweatts auction
14 July 2025Billed as ‘the last opportunity to own something very personal from the family’s own collection’, a group of drawings, paintings, letters and memorabilia relating to Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) came to auction from one of the artist’s descendants at Dreweatts.
Hefty price achieved for ‘England’s fattest man’ portrait
14 July 2025When Daniel Lambert, the famously rotund prison warden from Leicester, died in June 1809 at the Waggon and Horses Inn at Stamford, Lincolnshire, the title of ‘England’s fattest man’ transferred to a new contender.
Rare copy of Victorian photograph book makes £40,000 at Roseberys
11 July 2025Discovered buried in the back of a closet in the US, a rare surviving copy of Peter Henry Emerson’s 1886 work ‘Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads’ sold for £40,000 at Roseberys today.
Top 10 Old Masters at auction
08 July 2025The record-setting £27.5m Canaletto at Christie’s last week represented the sixth highest sum ever recorded at auction for an Old Master. But what others feature in the top 10?
Canaletto is toast of London season as ‘£400’ Turner discovery nets £1.5m
07 July 2025Works by two of the biggest names in art history put in a strong performance at the latest series of Old Master auctions in London.
Pick of the week: Enwonwu works emerge in Surrey
07 July 2025Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu (1917-94) is sometimes described as ‘the first African artist to gain international recognition in the modern art world’.
Bonington’s atmospheric sketch attracts interest at Dreweatt’s Feigen collection sale
07 July 2025The late US dealer Richard L Feigen (1930-2021) handled works by numerous artists over his long career.
Turner’s earliest exhibited painting makes huge return for eagle-eyed vendor
03 July 2025A ‘lost’ landscape by JMW Turner (1775-1851), thought to be the first oil painting the artist ever exhibited, sold for £1.5m at Sotheby’s latest Old Master evening sale.