Martin Millard, Director and who heads up the furniture and collectors’ items sections of the Art & Design Sale picks lot 130, a sculpture by Breon O’Casey.
Lot 130 - Breon O'Casey, estimate £1,000 - £2,000
Martin says: “I love the simplicity of this form, created from wispy silver strands, it is instantly recognisable as a bird in flight, reminiscent of the way a child might draw a bird, but elevated through the artist’s choice of material. I also love the ethos and self-deprecating attitude of O’Casey who, in his own words, believes ‘“That good contemporary art must always have a small following, and that this is a good thing”’ but also ‘“That most artists are stupid” and ‘”all artists are selfish!”’
Lot 130 has an estimate of £1,000 - £2,000.
Brett Tryner, Director, who heads up the modern and contemporary paintings section of the Art & Design department has picked lot 267, a painting by Ruth Doggett.
Lot 267, Ruth Doggett - estimate £1,200 - £1,800
Brett says: “I like the peaceful tranquillity of this picture and the palette used. It depicts the artist’s mother at a window in the family’s Cambridge home, and there is a real sense of intimacy and serenity to it. Doggett was previously one of the forgotten geniuses of British Impressionism and the picture clearly shows influences of Walter Sickert who taught Doggett at Westminster School of Art in 1913. Justifiably, prices have been increasing steadily over the past few years for her work, which has been clearly evidenced in recent sales.”
Lot 267 has an estimate of £1,200 - £1,800.
Gabrielle Downie, who is involved with the majority of the research for the Art & Design Sale and has a speciality in contemporary art, picks lot 356, ‘Yellow Island II’ by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.
Lot 356 - Yellow Island II by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, estimate £2,000 - £3,000
Gabrielle says: “Amongst my favourite lots of the sale is Wilhelmina Barns-Graham’s ‘Yellow Island II’. I love the rhythm and the vigour of the piece – it achieves so much with just simple abstracted forms and an expressionistic application of colour. Aside from its aesthetic merits, I love this lot for the way in which it is able to articulate so clearly the wider ambitions and visual principles of the St Ives set.”
Lot 356 has an estimate of £2,000 - £3,000.
To view the catalogue for the Art & Design Sale, please click here.