Halls Fine Art’s paintings specialist Abigail Molenaar and modern design cataloguer Chloe Delpy-Harding have assembled 236 lots for the auction, which is being live for the first time on Wednesday, October 23.
The auction includes a collection of seven works by contemporary artist James Hart Dyke, which each carry estimates from £300 to £500. They were painted during a year spent with MI6 to mark the centenary of the British Secret Intelligence Service in 2009.
MI6 invited Dyke behind closed doors and into the secret world of espionage, resulting in a series of paintings and drawings that contributed to the ‘A year with MI6’ exhibition at Mount Street Galleries, London. He had to work under strict conditions of secrecy.
Four works by Hockney, including a signed etching and aquatint titled ‘French Shop’, which is valued at up to £4,000, feature in the auction.
‘The Frozen Watches of Space Time, from The Conquest of the Cosmos I, 1974’, an etching and lithograph by Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is valued at up to £4,000.
A signed gouache titled ‘Felsham’ by John Piper (1903-‘92) from a private local collection and an abstract titled ‘Cluster’ by John Tunnard (1900-1971) are each valued at up to £5,000 while a Venetian canal scene by Cecil Rochfort D’Oyly-John (1906-‘’93) is expected to fetch up to £2,000.
‘Phenomena’, a watercolour by American abstract expressionist artist Paul Jenkins (1923-2012), signed and dated Paris 1963, is valued at up to £2,000. This painting and a pencil drawing of ‘The Alcazaba of Almería’ by Tristram Hillier (1905-‘83) were gifted by the artists to the seller’s father when he worked at a London gallery.
Abigail believes the drawing, valued at up to £1,200, may be a study of the Hillier’s painting of Almería, which is in the Nottingham Castle collection.
British abstract artists featured in the auction include Leigh Davis, whose oil on canvas titled ‘Red Boat’, together with the preparatory sketch, are expected to fetch up to £4,000 and Roger Cecil (1942-2015) whose mixed media and gesso titled ‘Messages from the Past’ has an estimate of up to £3,000.
‘Going Down for the 63rd Time in de la Garcia, Syros’ an oil on canvas by Andrew Hewkin is expected to fetch up to £2,000, a ‘Girl at a Mirror’, an oil on board by Bernard Dunstan (1920-2017), is valued up to £1,200, ‘Jug With Roses’, an oil by Tom Carr (1909-‘99), has an estimate of up to £1,500 and 11 prints by German artist Peter Schmidt (1931-‘80) are each valued at up to £400.
Sixteen maritime and Venetian works by Adrian Rigby, including an oil on canvas titled ‘Race to the Needles, Yankee, Britannia and Velsheda’, valued at up to £800, are included from a former North England art gallery, the contents of which Halls Fine Art is selling over a series of auctions.
A mixed media sculptural piece by Sandra Blow (1925-2006) titled ‘Construction’ is valued at up to £1,200 and a blue and white ceramics sculpture composition with insects by Dutch artist Bouke de Vries is expected to fetch up to £800.
Potential stars of the modern design section is a stunning 1920s turned wood lamp attributed to Dutch designer De Nieuwe Honsel, valued at up to £700 and a Danilo Silvestrin for Gunther Lambert Milano range dining table and four chairs at up to £500.
Art Deco lots to watch out for include a four branch ceiling light and a grandmother clock, each valued at up to £500.
“It’s probably the most wide-ranging modern and contemporary art and design sale that we have held to date and it’s already attracting a lot of interest,” said Abigail.
“There’s a really good mix of established and upcoming artists with specialist pictures for those who already have an art collection and affordable art for collectors who are just beginning.
“We have Northern and Cornish School pictures, Asian prints as well as abstract paintings and pop art, something for all tastes and budgets
The saleroom at Battlefield will be open for viewing on Monday and Tuesday from 10am to 4pm or the lots can be viewed at https://fineart.hallsgb.com/forthcoming-auctions/ .
