Oil, Acrylic paintings & Mixed Media

LS Lowry’s industrial northern English city scenes, populated with his trademark ‘matchstick’ figures, have inspired many artists. Chief among them was Brian ‘Braaq’ Shields (1951-97), dubbed ‘Liverpool’s Lowry’.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Alan Wheatley Art opens a retrospective of the art of Modern British artist Alan Davie (1920-2014) this week.

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

Increasing number of auctions and shows around the Salon make Paris a must in March.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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.

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

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.

Tutu, a previously lost portrait by Ben Enwonwu (1917-94) of the Ife royal princess Adetutu Ademiluyi set a new record for the artist at Bonhams’ Africa Now auction.

The 20th century portraitist Meredith Frampton (1894-1984) achieved remarkable success in a relatively short career.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Experimental work by the Czech Expressionist Ernest Neuschul (1895-1968) chimed with current tastes in a sell-out studio sale in Somerset.

This oil painting of the RMS Queen Mary, below, by marine painter William McDowell (1888-1950) was taken to a multi-estimate £12,000 at Surrey saleroom John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium).

Private material sourced from old estates helped Gloucestershire saleroom Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium) get the year off to a positive start.

This painting of a saint sold for a multi-estimate £5400 at London Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) in Chiswick.