Fine Art

For a number of years, the Colchester-born artist Harry Becker (1865-1928) followed the conventional path of a professional artist, achieving significant success and exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy. But a growing disenchantment with London led to his ultimate departure in 1913 to Suffolk.

Original paintings by Abstract artist Nicolas de Stael (1914-55) rarely appear at auction outside the main salerooms in London, Paris and New York.

Pitched at £200-300, this Russian diptych icon shown below triggered wide pre-sale Russian and East European interest ahead of Elstob & Elstob’s 20% buyer’s premium) sale at Bedale.

Artist famous for his busy panoramic scenes also profited from intimate female portraits

In a sale of Modern and Contemporary British art in south London, this undated work House and Trees below sold for a multi-estimate £5800.

Emilie Preyer (1849-1930) obviously learnt a lot from her father Johann Wilhelm Preyer, one of the most famous still-life painters in the Düsseldorf School in the late 19th century.

Many figures involved in the booming 19th century art industry of livestock portraiture had no formal training.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales for £3000 or under, including a coastal view by Walter Shaw.

London and Petworth dealer Timothy Langston Fine Art & Antiques has sold a portrait of the Regency period antiquarian Sir William Gell (1777-1836) to the British Museum.

Auction includes collection of Modernist works breaking away from south Asian tradition

Despite surface dirt and other condition issues, a painting of Naples drew a dramatic bidding competition at a recent auction in Rome.

'Le vol de pensée' (2010), shown right, is offered for $25,000 at Ink Asia on the stand of Singapore gallery iPreciation. The framed ink-on-paper composition, 2ft 7in x 2ft 2in (79 x 65cm), is by Gao Xingjian, a Chinese-born artist working in France.

Harry Becker (1865-1928) is not well known outside East Anglia but he is much admired both for a skilled grasp of Impressionism and his choice of subject matter.

Before he learnt to paint, Sheffield-born artist Joe Scarborough (b.1938) was a laboratory assistant at Batchelors, the processed food company, then a face worker at the Thorpe Hesley colliery.

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales below £2000, including a pen and ink wash by Paul Sandby.

Roy Oxlade (1929- 2014) emerged in the 1950s as one of a distinguished group of painters, including Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff, who studied under David Bomberg at Borough Polytechnic in London.

Mayfair show features 12 ‘seminal masterpieces’ first collected by Scottish baroness

This 21 x 15in (54 x 39cm) watercolour, below, probably depicting the New Julfa quarter of Isfahan, is by the Armenian-Iranian painter Sumbat Kiureghian (1913- 99).