Preview: Modern & Contemporary Art Sale 3rd October

Pictures and sculpture from the collection of the late Humphrey Boyle, art collector and founder of the renowned fabric and wallpaper company Zoffany, are to be sold in the Modern and Contemporary Art Sale on 3rd October at Tennants Auctioneers, North Yorkshire. Boyle founded Zoffany after he was inspired to create his first collection by the historic fragments of wallcoverings and silk discovered at the 16th century Temple Newsam near Leeds, when he was part of the team responsible for restoring the Jacobean house.

Leading the collection is “Boxted Mill Pool” by John Northcote Nash, which will be offered with an estimate of £30,000-50,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium) and was included in the 1967 Royal Academy exhibition on the artist. Nash captured the English countryside in the wake of the First and Second World Wars in a lyrical, evocative style that was a deeply felt response to the land he loved, and the solace nature can offer after the horrors of war. “Boxted Mill Pool” was painted close to his home at Bottengoms Farm in Essex. A quiet and peaceful scene, devoid of human activity, it is painted with an almost dream-like quality with the elements of the sky, foliage and water picked out in feathery brushstrokes that soften the composition. This is rural England in a disappearing world, a quiet oasis chasing away the shadows of war. Also of note is a 1931 Self Portrait by David Bomberg (1890 to 1957), the pioneering British modernist painter and member of the Whitechapel Boys who moved from the bold geometric style of Vorticism and Cubist-inspired abstraction to powerful expressionist landscapes and portraits. Executed at a difficult time for the artist, when he was striving to find his place in the art world, it is expected to sell for £7,000-10,000. Further notable works from the collection include “The Critics”, a lead sculpture by Austin Wright (estimate: £4,000-6,000), Sofa, a pen and ink drawing by David Hockney that was once in the collection of the American poet Jonathan Williams (estimate: £6,000-8,000).

Good Modern British works from other vendors in the sale include “Untitled (Black and White)” by Roger Hilton, a leading figure in post-war British abstract art whose energetic, expressive paintings combined European modernist influences with the spirit of the St Ives School (estimate: £10,000-15,000), and Untitled (San Gimignano) by fellow St Ives artist Peter Lanyon (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Notable too are “Nature Morte à la Poule” by Henri Hayden, a Polish painter and member of the Parisian avant-garde scene in the early 20th century (estimate: £4,000-6,000), a Portrait of Perin Jessup by Sir Frank Bowling (estimate: £4,000-6,000), and Fishing Boats in a Harbour by Scottish artist John Bellany (estimate: £4,000-6,000).

Hailing from the Michael and Geraldine Leventis Collection is the 1956 print “La Corrida” by Pablo Picasso (estimate: £5,000-7,000), which reflects Picasso’s abiding interest in traditional Spanish imagery in his depiction of a bullfight. From the same collection is an untitled abstract executed in 1991 by Ian Davenport (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Furniture, ceramics and works of art from the collection will be sold in the 20th Century Design Sale on the same day.

An eclectic and interesting sale, further notable artists represented in the sale include the Northern artists Norman Adams, Len Tabner, Simon Palmer and Geoffrey Key, abstract artist Adrian Heath and William Gear, Scottish artist Jolomo, and amongst the many prints on offer are examples from Bob Dylan’s most popular series ‘Train Tracks’ and ‘New York Skyline’.

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