Fine Art

Henry Adams has achieved an auction record for Cedric Morris (1889-1982), completing a hat-trick of high prices for the artist-plantsman at the Chichester saleroom.

Another returning BRAFA exhibitor is the Paris dealer Xavier Eckhout, who specialises in animalier sculpture from 1880- 1950.

Greenslade Taylor Hunt’s (19.5% buyer’s premium) first sale of the year got off to a bright start with a Singaporean painting sailing to £19,000.

Three modestly valued works sold in regional sales.

Sensual, satirical and grotesque: the works of Beresford Egan (1905-84) certainly fit a description of ‘distinctive’.

'Snow on the farmhouses of Les Contamines-Montjoie' has begun to thaw in this oil by Charles-Henri Contencin (1898-1955), part of John Mitchell’s annual 'Peaks and Glaciers' exhibition (January 24-March 8).

Gerald Brockhurst (1890-1978) was already an established etcher when his captivating canvases of society women catapulted him to fame during the interwar years.

Much of the pre-sale interest in the 19th century paintings offered at the major London rooms centred on two landscapes by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840) at Sotheby’s (25/20/12.9% buyer’s premium).

Among the numerous dealers at BRAFA showing early works of art is Brussels’ Gallery Desmet, which specialises in sculpture and objects ranging from Antiquity to the Grand Tour.

Whitford Fine Art from London is a long-standing BRAFA stalwart (understandably given that the gallery’s core stock is work by 20th century Belgian and international artists).

'Fish and Lemon', painted in 1964, is among the 65 works included in Portland Gallery’s show on Mary Fedden (1915-2012) opening this week.

'Master Drawings New York', the gallery-based event in Manhattan Upper East side started 13 years ago, timed to coincide with the major January/February auctions of Old Master paintings and drawings in the Big Apple.

'Cave Painting I' by British artist Jean Cooke (1927- 2008) is among the works on offer at Piano Nobile’s exhibition 'A Modern Venus'.

Kathryn Bell runs Fine Art Consultancy, which offers British and Japanese contemporary art as well as Modern British prints. The gallery next stands at 'Connect', the art fair in London that runs from January 29-February 2.

Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) was the toast of London during the latest Victorian art sales held in the capital, where buyers continued to covet blue-chip Pre-Raphaelite art, market-fresh material – and invest in female names.