Fine Art Auction – Page 2 – Toovey’s Blog

From Town and City to the Country

‘The Tug’ by Sussex artist, Vanessa Bell

In the late 19th and 20th centuries many of Britain’s leading artists were inspired to leave London and our towns and cities, for the country. For some it was to escape the effects of the industrial revolution and for others the wars. There was a desire to articulate the ancient hope of the English expressed in and through their landscape. A hope bound up with a romanticized view of a rural idyll, lost or under threat.

It was Virginia Woolf’s love for Duncan Grant and her sister, Vanessa Bell, which brought her to Sussex during the First World War. Vanessa was living with her lover, the artist Duncan Grant, and his friend David Garnett, at Wissett Lodge in Suffolk when her sister, the author, Virginia Woolf, wrote to her in the May of 1916. She extolled the virtues and potential of Charleston house near Firle in East Sussex. To avoid being called up to fight and the prospect of gaol as conscientious objectors, Duncan Grant and David Garnett needed to be essentially employed on the land. Virginia Woolf was by this time living at Asheham some four miles from Charleston and, having suffered a breakdown, sought Vanessa’s company. In her letters Virginia explained that not only did the house need a tenant but that the neighbouring farmer was short of ‘hands’ to work on the land.

Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant would gather an extraordinary array of artists, writers and intellectuals to Charleston. Amongst them was the great economist Maynard Keynes, the authors Lytton Strachey and T. S. Elliot, the artist and critic Roger Fry and, amongst many others, Vanessa’s husband Clive Bell.

In London Vanessa Bell had married the art critic Clive Bell and was one of the leading members of what would become known as the Bloomsbury Group. She worked in the Omega Workshops with Roger Fry and collaborated with Duncan Grant in numerous decorative projects and artistic commissions.

As well as covering the walls and furniture at Charleston with painted decoration they portrayed those who visited and the countryside around them. The delightful oil by Vanessa Bell titled ‘The Tug’ depicts a scene reminiscent of Newhaven harbour which is across the Sussex Downs from Charleston. The light is golden and luminous. Her handling of paint is broad and filled with life and movement in the manner of the French Post-Impressionists. There is freedom and joy in the moored boat’s hopeful depiction.

Walter Langley’s oil painting, ‘A Quiet Time’

In contrast to Vanessa Bell’s bright palette is Walter Langley’s depiction of a working class woman at rest. Titled ‘A Quiet Time’ it reflects Langley’s empathy with the persistent hardship faced by the poor in 19th century Britain. Muted earth hues are employed in the stillness of this sensitive, delicate portrait. The economy of detail is typical of his portrayals of the working people of Newlyn in Cornwall. Walter Langley belonged to a group of artists from Birmingham who journeyed to Newlyn in Cornwall to escape the hardships caused by the Industrial Revolution in our cities. Their pursuit of realism was influenced by the French Barbizon painters. There is a romantic articulation of the nobility in working people.

If Sussex and her Downs touch your heart the need to live in their folds never leaves you. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant would continue to live at Charleston throughout their lives. 2016 marks a century since the Bloomsbury Group artists, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, arrived in Sussex to make their home at Charleston. I look forward to returning to Charleston and their array of events to celebrate this important anniversary. For more information go to www.charleston.org.uk/whats-on.

Vanessa Bell’s and Walter Langley’s paintings are already consigned for sale in Toovey’s select Fine Art Sale on Wednesday 23rd March 2016, each with an estimate of £8,000-12,000.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

Victorian Watercolours

Leading English watercolourists from the 18th and 19th Century have seen a revival in prices over recent years. Demand for watercolours by artists like Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman have followed the trend set by J.M.W. Turner and John Constable.

In comparison prices for Victorian artists following in the English watercolour tradition remain accessible providing a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire work of exceptional quality.

Watercolours possess a spontaneity and vitality created by the medium. The best Victorian artists applied layered washes without forfeiting the luminous transparency. Colours merge delicately with one another creating a sense of movement and life in the image.

Take for example Charles Edmund Rowbotham (1858-1921) who lived for a time at Steyning and Brighton. His watercolour, ‘Near Bramber, Sussex’, was shown at the Royal Society of Artists. He followed in the artistic tradition of his father and grandfather beginning his career by painting figures in his father’s landscapes. Charles Rowbotham married in 1884. He went on a series of sketching tours with his wife in the French Riviera, Switzerland, and Italy. It was during this period that he produced his best work which included watercolours like the scene titled ‘Genoa’ shown here. His penchant for blue with white heightening is apparent in this small jewel like picture.

‘Catalina, Lake Maggiore' by Myles Birket Foster

Over the county border in Witley near Godalming, Surrey, the artist Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899) had built a house which was decorated and furnished in the Arts and Crafts taste influenced by his friends Edward Burne Jones and William Morris. Many of the paintings in his home were by Burne Jones, whilst the furnishings came from Morris and Co. Birket Foster painted romanticised views of the English countryside particularly in Surrey. Before coming to Surrey he had toured widely including Italy. The watercolour, ‘Catalina, Lake Maggiore’, shown here shows the delicacy and detail of Birket Foster’s work.

Helen Allingham’s watercolour, ‘Still Life Study of Flowers in a Vase’

Helen Allingham (1848-1926), another Surrey artist, painted the beautiful still life. As a watercolourist she became famous for her depictions of figures, gardens and cottages in an articulation of the rural idyll. Still life studies were often painted by women artists at this date, though not commonly by Allingham. There is a vitality in her depiction of the vase and flowers which appears contemporary to our eyes.

Values at auction for pictures like these range from high hundreds into the low thousands. All these pictures have recently been sold in Toovey’s select paintings auctions at their Washington salerooms. If you are considering the sale of your pictures, or are keen to collect, contact Toovey’s Fine Art specialist, Nicholas Toovey, for advice by telephoning 01903 891955 or email auctions@tooveys.com.

The Collection of the Late Baroness Herries of Terregles

Angmering Park House, home to the Late Baroness Herries of Terregles

Toovey’s Fine Art Auctioneers are offering the principal contents of Angmering Park House, the home of the Late Baroness Herries of Terregles, as a single-owner collection at their Washington salerooms on Monday 7th December 2015.

Baroness Herries of Terregles (1938-2014) was the 14th holder of the barony. She inherited the title from her late father, the 16th Duke of Norfolk and 13th Lord Herries of Terregles, upon his death in 1975. Born Anne Elizabeth Fitzalan-Howard, she was the eldest of four daughters and grew up at Arundel Castle, the Norfolk’s family seat in West Sussex.

Lady Anne shared her family’s love of horses from a young age and would become a well-known racehorse trainer and the second wife of Colin Cowdrey, later Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, one of England’s most celebrated cricketers.

In 1970 she moved to her paternal grandmother’s home, Everingham, in East Yorkshire. There she became Master of the Middleton Hounds. In 1979 she returned to Sussex, making her home at Angmering Park House on the Angmering Park Estate, close to her childhood roots at Arundel. Horse-racing was in Lady Anne’s blood and she set about training racehorses with notable success.

Lady Anne’s life was always rooted in the countryside and most especially in the folds of the Sussex Downs. Her home, too, reflected the best of traditional English country house taste.

Alfred Bennett – ‘Arundel Castle and the Arun Valley’, late 19th Century oil on canvas — Alfred Bennett – ‘Arundel Castle and the Arun Valley’, oil on canvas

The delightful oil painting by Alfred Bennett (1861-1923) is one of the lots entered from the collection. It captures a familiar view of Lady Anne’s childhood home, Arundel Castle, and is expected to realise £800-1200.

A set of four George II cast silver Rococo candlesticks by Alexander Johnston

Amongst the silver is a beautiful set of four George II candlesticks by the London maker Alexander Johnston. They date from 1751 and 1752. The Rococo taste is reflected in their decoration with foliate nozzles, shell moulded sconces, waisted baluster stems and leaf scroll bases. They are estimated at £3000-5000.

A Regency rosewood writing table attributed to Gillows of Lancaster

The Regency rosewood and gilt metal mounted writing table has been attributed to the famous cabinet makers Gillows of Lancaster. The familiar anthemion key escutcheon and six-point star handles are to be found on other examples of Gillows furniture. It carries a pre-sale auction estimate of £1500-2500. It is one of several pieces of furniture which have been attributed to Gillows of Lancaster in this sale.

I have always held a fond admiration for Lady Anne and her family. They have made such a remarkable and generous contribution to our community in Sussex. It has been my privilege to accompany them over many years through their charitable activities and, like so many others, I have valued their friendship and support. I am, therefore, delighted that Toovey’s are offering the principal contents of Angmering Park House at our salerooms at Spring Gardens, Washington, West Sussex, RH20 3BS. The sale provides an extraordinary insight into the life of a remarkable family.

Viewing for the sale of the Collection of the Late Baroness Herries of Terregles, and Toovey’s series of other Christmas auctions, begins this Saturday morning, 28th November 2015. For more details and to preview the auction go to www.tooveys.com or telephone 01903 891955. I look forward to seeing you there!

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 25th November 2015 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Franz Sedlacek Secessionist Painting for Sale at Toovey’s Auction

Franz-Sedlacek Image ©Toovey's — 'Blüten und Insekten Nr. 3' by Franz Sedlacek ~ Secessionist Painting to be offered at Toovey's Auction

An oil on panel by Franz Sedlacek, one of Austria’s most prominent artists during the 1920s and ’30s, will be offered in Toovey’s sale of Fine Art on the morning of Wednesday 17th June 2015.

Franz Sedlacek was born in Breslau in 1891 and moved with his family to Linz when he was six. He displayed a talent for art from an early age but went on to study architecture, then chemistry in Vienna. He continued to develop his drawing and painting skills, though, and in 1913 co-founded an artists’ association in Linz. His studies were interrupted by a period of service in the First World War, but he returned to complete them and started work at the Technical Museum of Vienna in 1921.

In the subsequent years, Sedlacek began to concentrate on oil painting and in 1927 joined the Vienna Secession, a group of painters, sculptors and architects who had broken away from the Association of Austrian Artists. Formed in 1897, the group’s first president was the notable symbolist painter Gustav Klimt. The Secessionists sought originality in the visual arts, unencumbered by the traditions of academia or influences from the past.

Sedlacek’s style does not fit easily into a category but it is most often classed as belonging to the post-expressionist movement of New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit). A dreamlike and sometimes nightmarish quality prevails in his paintings; strange figures and creatures inhabit unsettling interiors and exteriors. His scenes often suggest a hidden narrative and his compositions always convey a sense of drama.

Sedlacek went on to garner considerable critical acclaim and numerous awards. In 1939, however, he was recalled for military service with the Wehrmacht in the Second World War. After serving in Norway and Russia, he was listed as missing in Poland in 1945.

The work to be offered at Toovey’s is one of a number of works in which Franz Sedlacek explored the theme of fantastical flowers and insects and is titled Blüten und Insekten (Nr. 3) to a paper label on the reverse of the panel. The image area measures approximately 50.5cm high by 40cm wide and is signed with initials and dated 1935 at the bottom left corner. Sedlacek exhibited regularly with the Secessionists and the reverse also bears a label indicating that the painting was shown at the Vienna Secession’s autumn exhibition of the same year. The work will carry a pre-sale estimate of £50,000-80,000.

Provenance: local private ownership by inheritance.

Click on a thumbnail below to see full image

Sedlacek titled label verso — Titled Label

Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race Comes to Sussex

Late 19th century oil on canvas by J.B. Allen depicting The Boat Race, London

This coming Sunday, 6th April 2014, the 160th annual Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race will be held. The Boat Race was first held in 1829, making this one of the oldest surviving sporting events in the world. The second Boat Race took place in 1836 in London, where it has been held ever since.

The competition began as a challenge between two old school friends, Charles Merivale and Charles Wordsworth, the nephew of the famous poet William Wordsworth. Today it has become an important fixture in the English sporting calendar and one which underlines the international and outward-looking qualities of the English at their best. The crews fielded by Oxford and Cambridge often reflect the global standing of these universities, whose students and oarsmen come from across the world.

Over the years I have increasingly found myself in London, invited to value and sell important collections by their owners. It was during a recent day spent in Sheen, near Richmond, that I discovered this marvellous 19th century oil painting of the Boat Race by J.B. Allen. It struck me as rather wonderful that it was residing near the very shores of the Thames where Allen depicted the view, between Putney and Mortlake.

In this Victorian scene the crowds are so numerous that they have taken to boats in order to get a better view of the crews as they row by. Arms and hats are raised as the excited spectators cheer their chosen team onwards. There is a cold wind blowing, causing flags to flutter. The greys and blues in the artist’s palette remind us that Easter is approaching and spring is only just arriving. Though less finely painted, the panorama of the crowds is reminiscent of that great Victorian painter William Powell Frith, who painted ‘The Derby Day’ between 1856 and 1858. In a similar way to Powell, J.B. Allen depicts a series of very personal vignettes within the grand sweep of his Boat Race scene: boatmen steady ladies in their boats; gentlemen point towards the action and cheers go up amongst different parties of people. It is a painting which is alive and still creates excitement in us today. I am pleased to say that this oil on canvas subsequently came to Sussex to Toovey’s and was auctioned in our fine art sale on 26th March 2014 for £10,500.

Wedgwood earthenware bowl, designed by Eric Ravilious, circa 1938, the interior decorated with a scene of Piccadilly Circus at night

Wedgwood earthenware bowl, designed by Eric Ravilious, circa 1938, the exterior decorated with the Boat Race Day pattern

Around 1938 the Sussex artist Eric Ravilious provided an alternative view of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race in his designs for Wedgwood. Known as the Boat Race Day pattern, the exterior of this bowl depicts three successive scenes from the race and a mermaid device. Again, the numerous crowds are depicted cheering in the foreground, their arms raised in excitement, but the stylized scene appears as a moment captured outside of time, as is often the case with Ravilious’ work. The interior of the bowl shows Piccadilly Circus at night. Today at auction, a Boat Race Day pattern bowl would realise between £800 and £1200.

This Sunday at 12.00 noon, between church and lunch, millions of us will be cheering on our team. We will be held in the moment as the drama unfolds on our televisions or before us from the banks of the Thames. We will be caught up in the atmosphere and mood of celebration of this most English of sporting events, celebrating the highest standards of amateur sportsmanship, captured with such life by J.B. Allen more than an hundred years ago.

Advice on your paintings is freely available from Toovey’s; contact us to make an appointment with our fine art specialists.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 2nd April 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.