From Old Masters to contemporary makers, and from up-and-coming names to stars of Scottish and international art, our Paintings & Works on Paper auctions offer the opportunity to begin - or develop - your collecting journey.
Ahead of our June 2023 Paintings & Works on Paper auction, members of the Lyon & Turnbull team have selected a few of their favourite pictures to share from the sale. Read on to learn more about the pieces they would love to hang on their walls...
SONIA DELAUNAY'S DANSEUSE JAUNE 1923-1968
As the specialist in charge of our ‘Avant Garde’ sale, it’s probably no surprise that I’ve picked this pochoir by Sonia Delaunay to be on my wall – as it is the epitome of the avant-garde spirit in art and culture in Paris in the early part of the 20th Century that gave birth to Modernism. Cubism meets abstraction meets Bauhaus design, in a costume design for a sharp, swirling Serge Diaghilev ballet, scored with a dissonant, vertiginous Stravinsky soundtrack, watched on by Picasso, Cocteau, the belle monde and demi-monde - this little print really does take you there. And whilst Delaunay herself doesn’t quite need rescuing from the shadows in the way that other female avant-gardistes do, it’s still important to remember just how significant her contribution was to Modernist painting – especially colour-field abstraction - in the early decades of the century, when to do so as a woman came with challenges not felt by her male contemporaries.
- Simon Hucker, Senior Specialist, Modern & Contemporary Art
KATHARINE CAMERON'S BATH HOUSE, HOLYROOD, MOONLIGHT
In her inimitable style Glasgow Girl Katharine Cameron paints Queen Mary’s Bath House as if it were a vignette from a fairytale. The famous sixteenth century Bath House nestles in the grounds of Holyrood Palace and alongside Arthur’s Seat, rendered here in shadowy silhouette. From early in Cameron’s career she produced illustrations for books, and found herself drawn to romantic and folkloric subjects. Art historian H. C. Marillier noted that this was ‘a vital part of her existence. She has the true race feeling of the Celt for love and legend.’ Cameron moved to Edinburgh in 1928, and was likely drawn to the Bath House’s historical significance and crooked, whimsical appearance. This watercolour was reproduced in Flora Grierson’s 1929 book ‘Haunting Edinburgh’, a history of the city for which Cameron painted sixteen colour illustrations.
Don’t miss further works by Katharine Cameron in the sale, lots 40 and 57, as well as an ink drawing by her brother Sir David Young Cameron, lot 60.
- Chantal de Prez, Head of Sale, Paintings & Works on Paper
TOM SHANKS' ROAD TO LOCH HOURN - '95
My favourite piece in the sale is ‘Road to Loch Hourn’ by Tom Shanks. There is always something magical about the Highlands and I think this painting captures it really well. The dark tones and air of mystery remind me of a landscape in a Tolkien fantasy or the distant mountains in ‘The Hunters in the Snow’ by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. I would hang it in my hallway and be inspired to escape up North more often to have adventures.
- Harry Fletcher, Specialist, Furniture & Works of Art
