Works by the Important Aboriginal Artist Albert Namatjira sold at Toovey’s

Albert Namatjira – Australian Landscape with Ghost Gum Tree and Mountains (detail), early/mid-20th century watercolour, signed, © The artist’s estate/ Toovey’s. Sold for £26,000

Three works by the important Aboriginal artist Albert Namatjira (1902-1959) have just sold for a total of £61,000 in Toovey’s specialist fine art auction.

Albert Namatjira was a pioneering Aboriginal Australian artist known for his distinctive watercolour landscapes that captured the beauty of the Australian outback. Born Elea Namatjira and raised in the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission in the Northern Territory, he was educated in both Aboriginal and Western traditions. Namatjira discovered his talent for painting in his mid-30s after meeting the artist Rex Battarbee, who was touring Central Australia. Battarbee taught him the techniques of watercolour painting, and Namatjira quickly developed a unique style that combined Western techniques with his deep spiritual connection to the land. His works vividly portrayed the rugged and vibrant landscapes of Central Australia, especially the MacDonnell Ranges, using soft hues and detailed brushwork. His art gained widespread acclaim and by the 1940s Namatjira had become one of Australia’s most celebrated artists. He was the first Australian Aboriginal to achieve commercial success in the Western art world, holding numerous exhibitions across Australia. His fame also brought attention to the cultural and political issues faced by Aboriginal people at the time. Despite his success, Namatjira’s life was marked by the complexities of navigating two cultures. Although he was granted limited citizenship rights in 1957, he still faced significant legal and social discrimination. Namatjira’s legacy endures as a trailblazer in Australian art. His work not only opened doors for future Aboriginal artists but also helped to change perceptions of Aboriginal culture in Australia.

Albert Namatjira – Valley Landscape with Gum Trees, early/mid-20th century gouache on panel, signed recto, gallery label verso, © The artist’s estate/ Toovey’s. Sold for £19,000

The three paintings were consigned by a private collector based in Sussex. These works were inherited from his late father, Sir John Galvin, a self-made Australian multi-millionaire. Sir John, who amassed his wealth through ventures in media and mining, was born in Tasmania in 1908. He is recognized as one of the few Westerners to have interviewed Mao Zedong for an English-language newspaper he founded in Shanghai. A passionate patron of the arts, Sir John directly acquired two of these paintings from the artist and purchased the third from Artlovers’ Gallery in Artarmon, Sydney, New South Wales.

This important Aboriginal artist speaks of Australia’s history and Albert Namatjira’s work continues to be celebrated by collectors around the world.

Albert Namatjira – Australian Landscape with Trees and Mountains, early/mid-20th century watercolour, signed, © The artist’s estate/ Toovey’s. Sold for £16,000

Irish Artist Gerard Dillon’s Seminal Work High Cross Panel

Gerard Dillon – ‘High Cross Panel’, mixed media with oil, gouache and pastel on fifteen sheets of paper laid on board, circa 1949, 112.5cm x 159cm © The Artist’s Estate/Toovey’s

Gerard Dillon (1916-1971) started to paint in 1936. He worked predominately in Belfast, where he was born, as well as Dublin and Connemara. The work, titled ‘High Cross Panel’, is a large mixed media painting with oil, gouache and pastel comprised of fifteen sheets of paper laid on board. It dates from around 1949. The ‘High Cross Panel’ is inspired by Celtic relief sculptures that Dillon had sketched during his visits to Monasterboice and Mellifont Abbey with his friend and fellow artist Nano Reid. The picture’s series of vignettes depict scenes from the life of Christ and the Old Testament. Dillon grew up in the Roman Catholic Church but became disenchanted with it. Here Dillon incorporates Celtic Christian iconography as he seeks to position his work within the broader context of Ireland’s artistic and religious heritage.

This large seminal work was sold in Toovey’s recent specialist fine art auction for £27,000.

Gerard Dillon – ‘High Cross Panel’ (detail) © The Artist’s Estate/Toovey’s

The painting was first owned by P.J. Carroll & Co. Ltd who provided vital support for many leading Irish artists at a time when general interest in the visual arts was limited. The P.J. Carroll art collection was widely regarded as one of the pre-eminent collections of 20th century Irish art and was originally hung in their factory in Dublin Road, Dundalk, Co. Louth. A large portion of the P.J. Carroll collection is now to be found in the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. High Cross Panel was lent by the Carroll collection to the Gerard Dillon Retrospective exhibition held at the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (now the Hugh Lane Gallery) in 1973.

The piece was purchased from the P.J. Carroll collection after 1973 by Sir John Galvin, a self-made Australian multi-millionaire. Sir John, who amassed his wealth through ventures in media and mining, was born in Tasmania in 1908. A passionate patron of the arts, Sir John Galvin amassed an art collection that included significant works from his native Australia. He relocated to Ireland in 1959 and added numerous Irish works to the collection. Galvin was a generous a philanthropist in Ireland helping financially to construct St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin. He also contributed to the arts and was a Trustee at the National Library of Ireland. The High Cross Panel remains one of Dillon’s most seminal works.

Historical Portraits Sold at Toovey’s

Henri-Pierre Danloux – Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d’Angoulême (1775-1844) and Charles Ferdinand d’Artois, duc’ d’Berrie (1778-1820), Sons of Charles X, King of France, a pair of oval oils on canvas laid onto panel, one signed and dated 1797, each 24cm x 18.5cm

A pair of remarkable portraits have just sold at Toovey’s for £15,000.

The portraits are by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1753-1809) who in 1792 moved to London escaping the French Revolution.

They depict Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d’Angoulême (1775-1844) and Charles Ferdinand d’Artois, duc’ d’Berrie (1778-1820), the sons of Charles X, King of France and provide a window into history. Charles and his eldest son, Louis Antoine would both eventually be forced to abdicate in favour of Louis Phillipe de Orléans.

Louis Antoine accompanied and advised his uncle, Louis XVIII. He was twice forced into exile in Britain, and twice he fought in the Napoleonic wars, the second time with Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.

Danloux was influenced by fashionable English portrait painters like Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), John Hoppner (1758-1810) and George Romney (1734-1802). He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London which brought commissions from a number of British patrons.

Danloux would return to Paris in 1801 and continue to paint until his death in 1809.

Toovey’s picture specialist, Tim Williams with one of the Henri-Pierre Danloux portraits

Charles Philippe, Count d’Artois and later King Charles X of France, arrived in Scotland with his sons and established an émigré court at the Palace of Holyrood, Edinburgh. Danloux travelled from London to Scotland to paint the portraits of his fellow countrymen. His portrait of Louis Antoine was engraved by Philipp Audinet in 1799 (an example can be found at the National Portrait Gallery, London). Versions of both portraits by Danloux can also be found in the collection of the Palace of Versailles,. The portraits sold at Toovey’s were gifts from the sitters to Lord Adam Gordon (1726-1801) commander-in-chief of the forces of North Britain, and remained with the family. Lord Gordon had greeted d’Artois and his sons at the quayside on their arrival in Edinburgh where half of the city had turned out to witness the spectacle. Danloux also painted a portrait of Lord Gordon in 1799 which is now in the collection of the National Galleries Scotland.

It is always special to discover works that are fresh to the market like these. Toovey’s next sale of fine paintings will be held on 17th May 2023 and entries are still being invited.  If you would like advice on you paintings collection contact Tim Williams at Toovey’s.

Juan Manuel Blanes World Record at Toovey’s

Juan Manuel Blanes’s Gaucho on Horseback in a Uruguayan Prairie Landscape, oil on canvas, circa 1875-1878

A major work by Uruguay’s most important painter Juan Manuel Blanes of a Gaucho has just broken the world record at auction selling for £1.15 million at Toovey’s.

Rupert Toovey said “I have known the painting for many years but congratulations must go to our fine art consultant Tim Williams whose exceptional research and tenacity in contacting collectors across the world has made this remarkable result possible, and Nick Toovey who conducted the auction.”

Toovey’s fine art consultant Tim Williams with Juan Manuel Blanes’s important painting Gaucho on Horseback

Tim Williams commented “Juan Manuel Blanes [1830-1901] is renowned for painting grand history paintings and portraits, as well as scenes and events that shaped Uruguay’s national identity during the years of conflict that resulted in independence from Spain.”

He continues “The Uruguayan municipal gallery in Montevideo is named Museo del Bellas Artes Juan Manuel Blanes and houses the largest collection of the artist’s work.”

Tim’s research revealed the painting’s remarkable provenance. The first owner of the painting was the notable Spanish aristocrat Baldomero Hyacinth de Bertodano, 7th Marquis de Moral. He lived at Cowbridge House near Malmsbury in Wiltshire and the painting hung there until his death in 1921. The contents of Cowbridge House were auctioned to divide the estate between five family members. The painting was included in the sale. Described as ‘A fine Oil Painting, The Gaucho on the Pampas in Argentine about 52 by 46 ins’. Baldomero’s brother, Charles Edmund de Bertodano, a notable Railway engineer, purchased the painting from the auction and it remained with his family to the present day.

Thought originally to be an Argentinian landscape the painting sold by Toovey’s actually depicts a Uruguayan scene with a Gaucho on horseback pointing, as two horsemen gallop away on the horizon. The golden glow of Blanes’ palette and the way that he paints the effect of light playing on the prairie is remarkable.

Tim explains “Blanes’ Gaucho paintings celebrate the way of life of these independent, rugged horsemen whose lives embodied the South American ‘Wild West’ and national identity in a similar way to the cowboys of the United States. The open prairie beneath an expansive sky would have contrasted with the pressured urban lives of the cosmopolitan collectors who patronised Blanes’ work.”

Toovey’s Chairman, Rupert Toovey with the World Record Breaking Blanes Gaucho

Commenting on the result Rupert Toovey said “This is the first time that this important painting has appeared on the market in some 102 years. A hammer price of £1.15 million is a new world record and I am delighted that the painting has been acquired by a private Uruguayan collector.”

Watch the auction below:

Lost Work by George Romney Discovered in West Sussex

Toovey’s Fine Art consultant, Tim Williams, with the re-discovered portrait of Lady Laetitia Beauchamp-Proctor by the important English artist George Romney

A lost work by the important English artist George Romney (1734-1802) has been newly re-discovered in West Sussex by Toovey’s Fine Art consultant Tim Williams. Romney was the most fashionable artist of his day and this portrait is to be auctioned at Toovey’s with an estimate of £8000-£12000 on 16th February.

The painting has been in the vendor’s family since the day it was painted, the sitter being a direct ancestor of the owner’s late husband. It is not recorded why but the painting had been previously attributed to Angelica Kauffman sometime before 1915. At that time it was in the possession of Rev Sydney C. Beauchamp. A letter written in 1915 by Rev Beauchamp describes that he had fallen on hard times and was prepared to sell the painting to his cousins for £50 on the proviso that he had the option to buy it back if his fortunes improved. Evidently his fortunes did not improve and the painting has remained in his cousin’s family until now.

Toovey’s Fine Art consultant Tim Williams says ‘I was immediately struck by the quality of the painting when I saw it at the client’s home. I thought it had some compositional similarities to Kauffman’s work, but my gut reaction was that it was by George Romney. I initially contacted the notable Kauffman scholar Dr Professor Wendy Wassyng Roworth who felt the treatment of the subject wasn’t quite right for Kauffman and also suggested Romney as the artist. I wrote to Alex Kidson, the leading authority on Romney, who confirmed that it was indeed by Romney and there was a considerable amount of supporting evidence. The date it was executed was recorded in Romney’s ledgers, as well as the cost of framing. It had been included in Alex Kidson’s scholarly catalogue raisonné of the artist but its whereabouts were unknown and the sitter’s identity was conflated with that of her sister. Alex had never seen an image of the portrait and was as excited as me about its re-discovery. It is rare to have such comprehensive provenance for a portrait of this date.’

George Romney – Portrait of Lady Laetitia Beauchamp-Proctor, oil on canvas, circa 1780

Tim explains how the portrait of Lady Laetitia Beauchamp-Proctor, née Johnson, had originally hung at her sister’s home, Langley Park in Norfolk. It is possible that the same picture is recorded hanging in her brother in law, Sir Thomas Beauchamp-Proctor’s drawing room in 1829 as noted in John Chamber’s ‘A General History of the County of Norfolk’ which was published in 1829 by John Stacy in London.

George Romney recorded Lady Beauchamp-Proctor’s seven sittings between 20th July and 16th August 1780, and the 18 guinea fee was paid to the artist on 5th May 1781. It was sent to Thomas Allwood for framing and is recorded in his framing book as ‘an oval 3/4 at a price of £2 12s 6d for Lady Beauchamp Proctor’.

Tim Williams concludes excitedly ‘This is the first time that this portrait has ever appeared on the market – almost unheard of for a 242 year old painting.’

View the lot here.