19/12/2001
by Fiona Long

Following the success of the contemporary sales in New York this November, London hosted a week of Modern British art auctions at the beginning of December. Bonhams, newly merged with Phillips, kicked off the series of sales with a positive note with good results as most of the lots found buyers (see daily gabrius,13/12/2001). Sotheby’s and Christie’s South Kensington followed.

The auction at Sotheby’s, held in London on the 5^th of December, raised a total of $ 2,190,150 (€ 2,424,900). However, only 52% of the lots actually sold, despite the sale boasting a good range of top artists covering the whole spectrum of Modern British art, from Munnings to Chadwick, including a large number of works from the collection of the actor Sir Alec Guiness. With a total of 163 lots, the poor showing might have been a result of high reserves and estimates which perhaps deterred bidders from paying high prices in the current precarious climate. It was an unusual performance in the words of Susannah Pollen, Head of the Modern British department at Sotheby’s. It was not the usual predicament of top modern masters selling exceptionally well with a somewhat complex sales pattern. Pollen aptly described it as a classic example of the widening of the market for all ranges of modern artists, from the low end to the top end of the market. There was an undeniable demand for top pictures in all categories, as witness the successful performance of pictures in the middle range such as the works of Dorothea Sharpe, Edward Seago and Cecil Kennedy. The latter’s decorative still life of flowers almost tripled its original low-end estimate of $ 29,150-43,700 (€ 32,300-48,450), to fetch $ 82,850 (€ 91,800).

At the top end was the sale of Sir Winston Churchill’s exotic Garden at Marrakech which matched its high end estimate hammering at $ 87,000 (€ 96,800). Depicting the sunset over the Atlas mountains, this is a popular subject that was repeatedly painted by Churchill over the years. Notre Dame de Vie above Cannes (oil on canvas, 76 x 51 cm), also by the same artist, received a good response from buyers selling at $ 49,350 (€ 54,650) against an estimate of $ 14,600-21,850 (€ 16,150-24,200). Over the last three years several works by England’s former Prime Minister have come up for auction, but these are certainly the most successful results achieved so far. Gwen John’s Girl posing in a hat with tassels more than trebled its lower estimate to fetch $ 123,750 (€ 137,150). This particular piece was in the artist’s possession until 1926 when it entered the Guiness collection, where it remained until now. Its’ success was not only helped by the fact that it was fresh on the market, but was also boosted by its distinguished provenance. Riverside Gardens, Hammersmith by Victor Pasmore, the great innovator of British art, sold above its estimate ($ 43,700-58,300, € 48,450-64,600) for $ 64,400 (€ 71,400), indicating there is always a demand for the finest paintings notwithstanding negative market sentiment and confirming Pollen’s theory of a selective market for the finest works in every price range.

The troublesome lots of the sale included a Graham Sutherland, Thorn Structure 1, which failed to reach its estimate ($ 43,700-58,300, € 48,450-64,600) and a Lucien Pissarro, Lane Head Farm, Brough, which, estimated at £10,000-15,000, narrowly missed its reserve. As at Bonhams the previous day, an artist that featured prominently was Laurence Stephen Lowry, always a popular artist in these sales and a market unto himself, with four works selling within estimate and three pieces going above estimate. Of particular note was his small signed and dated Street Scene from 1957 that eventually sold for $ 117,100 (€ 129,850), against an estimate of $ 58,150-87,250 (€ 64,500-96,750).

A more affordable range of Modern British Art was on offer at Christie’s South Kensington in two consecutive sales held during the first week of December, and marketed as two separate auctions: "Twentieth Century British Art" and "Modern and Post-War Art". Prices started from the low $ 100’s, € 100’s), following on from the auction house’s more important sale of British pictures held in November at King Street.

Christie’s 313 lot sale of Twentieth Century Art held on the 6^th December raised a total of $ 278,250 (€ 308,800), including buyers’ premiums. The sale included works from the estate of the artist Ula Paine (1909-2001), though the works only sold patchily, with just 17 of the 45 lots finding buyers. More recognisable names included a series of nude studies by Duncan Grant and watercolours by Sir Willam Russell Flint. The top performers that appear regularly at CSK sales continued to do well here. John Bratby’s The Greenhouse sold well at $ 10,200 (€ 11,300), matching its high end estimate. John Piper’s Green Abstract ($ 1,450-2,200, € 1,600-2,400) sold for $ 2,350 (€ 2,600) and a watercolour with collage, Beach sold for $ 3,350 (€ 3,700). Some of the major lots, however, did not sell, including a couple of William Scott’s at the end of the sale, the gouache Black and white on ochre (estimated $ 8,750-11,650, € 9,700-12,900) and Untitled 1967 (estimated $11,650-14,550, € 12,900-16,150).

The total raised by the following day’s sale of Modern and Post War Art was almost double, despite having approximately half the number of lots of the previous auction (final total $ 513,100, € 569,450). Some of the top prices were fetched by a medley of works by artists like Keith Haring, whose Untitled, a chalk on paper sketch sold for $ 11,050, € 12,300, Jean Dubuffet and the popular Rene Magritte. The front cover lot by Spanish painter Carlos Nadal, Mar/Zue made $ 13,600 (€ 15,150) while another lesser-known artist, Cana Orloff’s Nu Debout, a sculpture in wood, fetched $ 18,750 (€ 20,850). Established post-war names such as Yves Tanguy performed equally well, attracting bidders for his ink drawing, Sans Titre which sold for $ 16,200 (€ 18,000) while Andre Masson’s bronze sculpture of Femme-Arbre fetched $ 15,350 (€ 17,100).

With sale totals a little lower than last year, the lesson to be learnt in the sale rooms of Modern British art this season was to buy more selectively than ever and only the best the sale-rooms could offer.