Our British & European Paintings specialists’ knowledge encompasses all major European art movements from the 17th to early 20th century; including genre scenes, portraiture, still life, landscape and narrative paintings from Britain, Austria, Germany, France (including the Barbizon School), Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Malta, Poland and Russia.
As one of the United Kingdom's premier fine art auctioneers and one of the longest established in Europe, we have developed an extensive client base internationally. Frequently, artworks offered at Lyon & Turnbull will return to their point of origin, as artworks tend to be achieve their greatest appreciation and value within the culture of their creation. This is why we regularly 'tour' the highlights of the British & European Paintings auctions to London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and where appropriate further afield, with recent international destinations including Philadelphia, New York, Amsterdam and Hong Kong.
The combination of international marketing and personal outreach has been proven to work – we have a solid reputation for achieving strong prices for British & European paintings over the years, including: The Hawker's Cart, by L. S. Lowry, sold for £689,700; adetailed Still Life by Dutch artist Hendrik Reekers, sold for £125,000; and the stunning Poppies by John William Godward, sold for £447,000.
In 2011 the department had the pleasure of handling a collection of British Victorian paintings from the London residence the Forbes family, the highlights of which included works by Sir John Everett Millais and Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones. Other notable collections include the April 2014 sale of an important private collection of the works of Sir William Russell Flint, whose watercolours have enjoyed resurgence in popularity in recent years. The collection was sold for over £300,000, with just under half of the works finding international buyers, the remainder remaining in the United Kingdom.
If you would like to enquire about the consignment of an individual work or collection, or would like information about a forthcoming auction please contact one of our specialists.
