This important English private collection follows in the tradition of the grand and great collections of the 19th century, bringing together this group that includes a quintessential landscape of Monet’s hometown, one of the best Degas ballet dancers of its kind, a portrait of Millais’ daughter and a view of Tissot’s London Garden, together with important Regency-era silver. Many of these pieces come with a fascinating provenance, their life associated with the great houses and families of England, historic figures, magnificent European collections and the revered gallerists of La Belle Époque in Paris. Including some seventy lots, this breathtaking collection will be offered across eight auctions at Sotheby’s London, including the dedicated Jubilee and Modern & Contemporary art evening sales.
In this sale, the superior quality of the pictures is testament to the collector’s desire to buy the best pictures by artists whose reputations made them the taste-changers of their age. American-born James Shannon’s depiction of lovers in the dappled light of an apple tree is aching stylish and by an artist who was compared favourably with his countryman John Singer Sargent. Each picture tells a story, whether it be the subject of the picture itself or the history of its provenance. George Dunlop Leslie’s beautiful depiction of young women making pot-pourri was once in the collection of the owner of the Titanic and hung in a home that was so austere that the owner would not have flowers in his vast garden. James Tissot’s watercolour of Victoria station, captures the spirit of adventure and world of travel that opened up in the nineteenth century, whilst Millais’ pretty milkmaid in a verdant English meadow, captures the Arcadia of the countryside at home.
