30 9th June 2012


art market It’s not all a bed of roses


■ Modern British art sales see selective bidding, but the best enjoys a healthy following


Alex Capon reports


A SUPERB still life by Scottish Colourist F.C.B. Cadell (1883- 1937) and an enigmatic figurative painting by William Roberts (1895-1980) were among the outstanding lots that made record prices at the latest Modern British art auctions in London.


Underneath the headlines, though, just


how robust is the market as a whole? The last decade has been a period of


major growth in the sector and last year saw unprecedented amounts of money changing hands. However, even as major collections like the Evill-Frost assembly at Sotheby’s and Lord Forte’s prestigious array of works by L.S. Lowry at Christie’s produced lucrative returns over the last 12 months, the signs of selectivity were becoming more noticeable. At last month’s sales in the capital,


intense bidding on some lots was balanced by weaker competition for others. With fewer stellar consignments this time round, the £18.27m hammer total for the series was less than half that raised last summer. Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s staged


evening sales this May which, along with the November sales, continued the experiment begun when the first Mod Brit evening auction was held in the summer of 2011 (the record-breaking Evill-Frost sale at Sotheby’s). However, as the bulk of the material performed little differently from how it would have in the day sales it used to appear in, this form of niche marketing seems to be more about winning consignments than feeding buyer demand. Barring a few exceptions, there was


a somewhat tepid response to works at Christie’s (25/20/12% buyer’s


Left: Roses by F.C.B. Cadell – a record £520,000 at Christie’s evening sale.


Right: The Chess Players by William Roberts – £1m at Sotheby’s, a major record for the artist.


into a commercial category of Colourist paintings, which includes only a few works by Cadell that have emerged on the secondary market so far. Furthermore, the green stems of the


flowers in the vase refracting off the water and glass significantly added to the picture’s appeal. On the night, the estimate of


£250,000-350,000 was quickly passed. Four bidders were prepared to go over top estimate, including Matthew Green of Bond Street dealers Richard Green, but it eventually came down to a battle between a telephone bidder and another interested party in the room, a European private buyer, according to the auctioneers. Knocked down to the latter at


£520,000, the price was well above the previous auction record for Cadell, the £460,000 seen for Florian’s Café, Venice sold at Sotheby’s in April 2010. With the bidding concentrated on a


premium) evening sale of 20th Century British and Irish art on May 23; 29 of the 45 lots (64%) found buyers and the hammer total of £7.69m was below the £8.89m-13.8m estimate. On the night, the room was far from


packed, although there were traffic problems nearby (some roads had been closed because of the Queen’s Jubilee preparations). Works by David Bomberg, Frank Auerbach and Sir Terry Frost went unsold and others by Edward Burra, Ivon Hitchens and Patrick Heron sold either on or below their low estimate. There was, however, some decent


bidding on a number of the works by Scottish Colourists. Two Samuel Peploe (1871-1935) still lifes took £450,000 and £310,000 respectively, but, by some measure, the best competition came for the prize Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell (1883-1937). Roses, a signed 18 x 15¼in (46 x


MODERN BRITISH ART SALES IN LONDON AT A GLANCE


No of lots


Modern & Post-War British Art (evening & day) Sotheby’s


10-11/5/12


20th Century British and Irish Art (evening sale) Christie’s


20th Century British and Irish Art (day sale) Christie’s


23/5/12 24/5/12 136 45 158


Presale Est.


£5.95m- £8.87m


£8.89m- £13.8m


£3.1m- £4.78m


Hammer total


£7.92m £7.69m £2.66m


Sold in lots


72% 64%


72%


Sold in money


86%


81% 74%


39cm) oil on panel, was an intricate picture which the vendor bought from the Portland Gallery in 1989. Dating from the late 1920s, it was from the Edinburgh-born artist’s best period of still life painting. This example was particularly well


conceived, with both a balanced composition and a tight arrangement of objects. The heightened colours on the roses and coffee cup also lifted it


relatively small number of lots, one of the other works that brought decent competition was a Sir Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) landscape. The Bridle Path, Cookham was a 2ft 4in


x 3ft 1in (72 x 94cm) oil on canvas from 1938. Although not an overtly religious picture, it had a certain intensity not always seen in these summer landscapes which Spencer was encouraged to produce by his dealer Dudley Tooth (at the time they were easier to sell than his


Above: The Bridle Path, Cookham by Stanley Spencer – £750,000 at Christie’s.


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