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Modern & Post-War British Art

OVERVIEW

Modern & Post-war British Art

This season’s Modern & Post-War British Art auction features major works by some of Britain’s most celebrated artists from across the century, including two extremely rare drawings by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska executed just prior to the First World War, a particularly strong group of modernist works by Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth from the mid-century, and a monumental canvas by Bridget Riley painted in 2002. Other highlights featuring in both the Evening and Day sales include a strong group of constructions by Victor Pasmore, Marlow Moss and Mary Martin, a diverse selection of Post-War sculpture by Lynn Chadwick, Reg Butler and Elisabeth Frink, and a wonderful selection of oils by William Scott, being offered in his centenary year.

Property from the Collection of Milton Ginsburg

Sotheby’s is pleased to offer an unprecedented group of iconic sculptures by Elisabeth Frink, amassed by the eminent Pennsylvania philanthropist Milton Ginsburg. Ginsburg was a passionate collector of Modern art (Sotheby’s offered his collection of Impressionist works in our New York sale rooms in May 2013) and a pre-eminent supporter of Frink’s work in the US, as evidenced by his generous gift of Frink’s Running Man to Haverford College.  Highlights from the group of Frinks include her monumental Horse and Rider, another cast of which famously sits in Dover Street in Mayfair, London, and a complete set of her Tribute Heads, done in support of Amnesty International.

RESULTS

Sotheby’s London’s Modern & Post-War British Art Evening Sale on the 11th July, sold the largest work to come to auction by esteemed British artist Ben Nicholson, his critically-acclaimed Oct 61 (Mycenae-axe-blue) for £1,082,500 (est. £1-1.5 million). 

Appearing at auction for the first time, the painting was previously a highlight of the Tate’s celebrated 1964 exhibition Painting & Sculpture of a Decade, 54-64. This magisterial abstract work is on the scale of his Festival of Britain commission and akin to his celebrated work that forms part of Tate Britain’s recent rehang. Truly monumental in scale - measuring four and a half metres across – it is a seminal piece from the years Nicholson spent in Switzerland, a period described as the ‘Indian Summer’ of the artist’s career. 

A world auction record for a work on paper by the artist, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska was also achieved after Homme Et Cheval sold for 254,500 GBP (Estimate 80,000 — 120,000 GBP) 

At Sotheby's London Modern & Post-War British Art Day Sale on the 12th July, a record price at auction was achieved for artist Gwen John, when the artist's oil on canvas The Convalescent sold for £200,500 , over double its pre-sale high estimate of £80,000.