Art Market

Poignant paintings make highest auction sum for the artist outside London

A notable Irish hunting painting that emerged at Fonsie Mealy (25% buyer’s premium including VAT) at the end of last year drew “very spirited bidding” according to the Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny saleroom.

A group of works by George Richmond (1809-96) offered at auction at the end of last year showed plenty of life remains in the market for the London-born painter.

Market freshness and good provenance have always been key components in the Old Master sector, and the latest series of auctions in this category underlined how heavily dependent the market remains on the supply of works that have these qualities.

Over his career, the Flemish artist Hendrick van Balen (1573-1632) collaborated with a number of other artists, not least Rubens. Another was Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625).

Two views of Chelsea Old Church by Walter Greaves (1846-1930) emerged at different salerooms in recent months.

If this view of London by William Richardson (1814-99) looks as if St Paul’s Cathedral has been magically transported to the mouth of the Grand Canal in Venice, that might not be too surprising.

A small number of intriguing 18th and 19th century pictures were among the works bringing the strongest competition in terms of the pictures at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Art & Interiors auction.

Shakespearean themed watercolour takes hammer price of £75,000 as confirmation of the artist’s status

A group of works by James Lynch (b.1956) brought good competition in the regions after emerging at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester, Dorset.

Towards the end of the 1940s and in the early 1950s, the artist John Minton (1917-57) painted a series of works in Cornwall, producing pictures mostly featuring boats, fishermen and harbours.

A trio of works by Cumbrian artist Sheila Fell (1931-79) were among the highlights of Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Modern Art & Design Auction.

‘Two bidders going hell for leather’ race to £55,000 for scene by artist famed for atmospheric nocturns