“Bolton Junction Eccleshill, Bradford”, a rare early mixed media work made by David Hockney when he was just 19, is to be sold in the Modern and Contemporary Art Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 13th June with an estimate of £7,000-10,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). The work was purchased from David Hockney at his end of year show at Bradford Regional College of Art by Malcolm Riley, a tutor at the college and the vendor’s father. In 1954 a young Hockney, much enthused by starting at Bradford Regional College of Art the previous year, drew and painted scenes of everyday life around his home in Bradford. Enamoured with art, he had persuaded his parents to let him leave grammar school at 16 to pursue his passion. Malcolm Riley taught the young Hockney perspective at the college circa 1955/1956, and the lessons he learned are certainly evident in the present work, with the salient lines of the street scene deftly mapped giving a sense of receding space and volume with a few simple marks.
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Rare Early David Hockney
The sale will be a celebration of Northern Art with some of the most significant artists of the region represented, including two drawings by L.S. Lowry. The first drawing, Figures on a Street, was drawn in 1971 and was gifted by the artist to Mr Donald Earnshaw on a visit to Newland House, Seaham (estimate: £8,000-12,000). The second drawing, Street Scene with Children and Dogs was reputedly acquired by the previous owner from Lowry during a trip to the Northeast, and will be offered with an estimate of £7,000-10,000.
From the North East, there are a selection of works by mining artist Norman Cornish, including a small private collection purchased directly from the artist’s family, with the likes of Miner’s Going to Work (estimate: £2,000-3,000), and a rare depiction of The Artist’s Father, Sitting in a Chair (estimate: £800-1,200). Works by fellow miner Tom McGuinness include “Lamplight, Early Evening” (estimate: £600-800). Three works by Huddersfield-born contemporary artist Maxwell Doig will also be on offer; Doig is known for atmospheric paintings and mixed-media works that explore memory, landscape, and emotion, and works on offer in the sale include “Abandoned House, Above Marsden” (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Further Northern artists included in the sale are David Blackburn (mentor of Maxwell Doig), Stuart Walton, Fred Yates, Brian ‘Braaq’ Shields, Geoffrey Woolsey Birks and Joash Woodrow.
Ceramics by Pablo Picasso will be on offer in the sale, too, with Wood-Owl, an ‘Edition Picasso’ owl-form jug inspired by the little owl he found and cared for during a summer spent in Antibes in 1946 (estimate: £3,000-5,000), and Tête Polychrome an ‘Edition Picasso’ painted plaque in the form of a face (estimate: £2,500-4,000). Also of interest are two works by Ken Howard, depicting the model Sarah, who is the daughter of the vendor; the works were purchased directly from the artist and “Sarah at Oriel” is offered with an estimate of £4,000-6,000, and “Sarah” with an estimate of £2,000-3,000.
Further notable lots in the sale include Heart Spin by Damien Hirst, made to celebrate the opening of Damien Hirst: Requiem, an exhibition at the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kyiv 2009 (estimate: £10,000-15,00), and a limited edition copy of the book “Beatles Sumo Edition” by David Bailey, which is sold with a set of four book jackets with an estimate of £7,000-10,000. In a rich and varied sale, there will also be works by the likes of Spanish artist Carlos Nadal, wildlife artist David Shepherd, a work by Adrian Paul Allinson previously exhibited at the Central Institute of Art and Design at the National Gallery, London, and two bronze rhinos by Steve Winterburn.
