Works by big name artists including David Hockney, Salvador Dali and John Piper, all sold well at a successful modern and contemporary art and design auction in Shrewsbury yesterday(Wednesday).
Hockney’s signed etching and aquatint titled ‘French Shop’ achieved the top price of £4,200 at Halls Fine Art’s auction, after attracting great pre-sale interest.
‘The Frozen Watches of Space Time, from The Conquest of the Cosmos I’ a signed 1974 etching and lithograph by Salvador Dali (1904-1989), which came from a private collection, sold for £3,800, while ‘Felsham’, a signed gouache by John Piper (1903-‘92), found a buyer at £3,000.
Another top performer was Cecil Rochfort D’Oyly-John (1906-‘93) whose oil painting titled ‘Venetian Canal Scene’, sold for £3,200, almost triple its pre-sale estimate.
Sixteen sailing and Venetian works by Adrian Rigby sold for £6,500, including two oils on canvas titled ‘Race to the Needles, Yankee, Britannia and Velsheda’ and ‘Regatta Racers, Lulworth, Westward and White Heather’, which made £1,200 each.
His works are from a former North England art gallery, the contents of which Halls Fine Art is selling over a series of auctions.
The auction also included a collection of seven works by contemporary artist James Hart Dyke, which were painted during a year spent with MI6 to mark the centenary of the British Secret Intelligence Service in 2009.
All but one of the works sold for a combined sum of £2,260, with the top price going to ‘Waiting in the Hotel Room’ which sold for £850.
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.
Four 1971 prints described as “after Bridget Riley”, born in 1931, sold for £3,230, with the top price of £1,400 going to the work titled ‘Firebird’.
Other leading prices were £1,100 for ‘Girl at a Mirror’ an oil on board by Bernard Dunstan (1920-2017), which came from a private collection, £900 for ‘Construction’, a mixed media sculptural piece on canvas and board by Sandra Blow (1925-2006), £750 for ‘Cycloid IV, 1966’ a signed screenprint by German artist Peter Schmidt (1931-‘80) and £720 for an oil on canvas titled ‘Winter; by Gerard M. Burns (born.1961).
The contemporary and modern design section, organised by modern design cataloguer Chloe Delpy-Harding, also produced some good results.
A stunning 1920s turned wood lamp attributed to Dutch designer De Nieuwe Honsel sold for £1,350, double its pre-sale estimate and a Danilo Silvestrin for Gunther Lambert Milano range dining table and four chairs made £400.
Other notable prices were £500 for a McIntosh rosewood veneered teak, £460 for Tudric for Liberty enamelled pewter jewellery box and £380 for a pair of Timothy Oulton leather, swing, tub form bar stools.
Halls Fine Art’s paintings specialist Abigail Molenaar said: “Big name artists, such as David Hockey, always draw a crowd and I was delighted with the price achieved for his work ‘French Shop’.
“Works by Salvador Dali, John Piper, Cecil Rochfort D’Oyly-John and Bernard Dunstan all sold well and I was delighted to enhance our record for selling single owner collections.
“Having sold wildlife paintings by Adrian Rigby in the past, it was pleasing to see his sailing and Venetian scenes attract so much interest. It was lovely that so many people attended the sale and stayed until the end.”
