Alfred Wallis Leads Modern & Contemporary Art Sale

Leading the Modern and Contemporary Art Sale held at Tennants Auctioneers on 14^th June were two works by Alfred Wallis (1855-1942), retired mariner and self-taught artist, who is much celebrated for his naïve paintings that reflect his direct experience of the sea and fishing communities in Cornwall. Painting solely for his own enjoyment, Wallis was discovered in 1928 by founding members of the St. Ives School, Ben Nicholson (second husband of Barbara Hepworth) and Christopher Wood. The works in the sale were Sailboats and Fish (sold for £22,000 all figures exclude buyer’s premium) and Steamboats and Lighthouse (sold for £15,000). Both works were purchased by the vendor’s grandmother directly from the artist, following a prolonged stay in Carbis Bay, just east of Wallis’ home in St Ives.  In order to help the near destitute elderly painter, and because they liked his work, they purchased several of his paintings.

Leading a strong outing for Northern Art was “Lees Brook” by Helen Bradley, which sold for £15,000. At the age of 65, having dedicated her adult life to raising a family, Helen Layfield Bradley (1900-1979) reinvented herself as an internationally acclaimed artist. Using a soft yet colourful palette and simple two-dimensional figures, she illustrated short narrative accounts based on early childhood memories of growing up in the Edwardian era to show her grandchildren just how different the world was when she was a child. Representing the North, too, was “Diptychon”, a 1989 homemade print by the renowned David Hockney (b.1937), which sold for £7,500.

One of the most interesting artists in the sale was the early 20^th century British female artist Madeline Green (1884-1947). Working at a time of significant social change, with shifting perceptions of gender roles, Green and her circle of sitters were concerned with the place of the female artist and her work explores the theme of identity. She used both herself and her close family members as sitters, in the case of the present works her sister, who is presented in more masculine dress, although it is impossible to say if this was out of necessity or a comment on gender roles. In the sale The Couple smashed its presale estimate to sell for £12,000, a notable price for the artist’s work.

Also selling well were a number of mixed media sketches by Dame Laura Knight featuring the elaborately plumed horses from Bertram Mills Circus. Fascinated with the world of theatre, ballet, and the circus, Laura Knight encountered the famous Bertram Mills circus in 1920. She depicted the spectacular shows, characters, and the animals behind the scenes, having travelled with them for several weeks. Highlights of the collection included “Joey”, which sold for £1,300, and Circus Horse, which sold for £1,400. An interesting group of works by Patrick Procktor (1936-2003) sold well, too. The painter and printmaker was greatly inspired by his travels, and “Nasturtiums, Wusih” from his 1980 ‘The China Series’ of prints sold for £900, and “Cataract, Aswan” sold for £1,300.

The sale achieved a total hammer price of £215,740 for 184 lots, and an 86% sold rate.

View Results