Our ever-popular week of fine art and design auctions returned to the Mall Galleries in London this April, seeing private collections lead the way, with strong prices for works by important and influential artists and designers.
Mall Galleries
Private Collections Lead the Way in April Mall Galleries Auctions
29 April 2024
Lyon & Turnbull
We were honoured to offer the collection of the late photographer and graphic designer Steve Allison in our April 2024 MODERN MADE: Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art, Design, Craft and Studio Ceramics sale. Featuring one of the most significant private collections of design works by the late Gaetano Pesce in Britain, Allison's rich and varied collection encompassed painting, drawing, printmaking and ceramics, and proved the maxim ‘always buy what you love’.
Across a career of over 55 years, Gaetano Pesce challenged the orthodoxy of design, instilling his own radical vision with a mischievous grin. Known for his innovative vision and radical designs, Pesce had a significant influence on the history of contemporary design. As an architect, artist and designer, Pesce’s work challenged the boundaries between these disciplines. The collection of works by Pesce achieved a grand total of £135,621*.
Further design highlights saw furniture and contemporary studio ceramics command strong prices with John Ward's Vessel with Cut Rim and Piero Fornasetti & Gio Ponti's Biglietta de Vista writing table each selling for £18,270*.
Radiating a sense of calm and certainty, Amedeo Modigliani' delicate, elegant drawing, Nu Accroupi, led the strong fine art selection in our April 2024 sale, achieving £45,200*.
We had the privilege of offering the largest early domestic commission by renowned stained-glass artist Sir Brian Clarke. Widely considered the most important artist working in stained glass today, Clarke revolutionised not only technologies but also philosophical conceptions of what can be achieved through this medium. The Plumb Windows are an exemplar of Clarke’s maturing style, using characterful and richly textured transparent and translucent mouth-blown glasses, with The Plumb Window I and The Plumb Window II selling for £37,700* and £13,860*, respectively.
An exceptional collection of works from the studio of the late Laurence Broderick totalled nearly £60,000*, led by the beautifully formed Eve. Distilling figural and animal forms into fluid, organic curves, Broderick expressed not only his subjects’ likeness, but also articulated something of their personality and physicality.
From the Collection of Drs Antony and Zarrina Kurtz, Roger Hilton's Jan '65 and and Winifred Nicholson's Plum Blossom, Greece proved popular with bidders, seeing £32,700* and £17,640*, respectively. Further works by women artists that met with competitive bidding included Wilhelmina Barns-Graham's By Chelsea Old Church (After the Raid) which was bought from a Royal Scottish Academy exhibition in 1943 and remained in the same private family collection since, selling for £20,160*.
René Lalique's rare cire perdue pieces from a private collection soared in our specialist sale. The beautifully formed Cénotaphe, Couvercle Roses vase achieved £60,200*, with the Pieds Enfants, Farandole vase seeing £45,200* and the Quarte Perruches Vase achieving £30,200*. The majority of cire perdue items are unique works, their rarity and special qualities have great appeal in the connoisseur market. The auction also saw striking lighting examples including the Feuilles de Mûrier achieve £25,200, while eye-catching vases in striking colourways drew bidders in, with the Borromée and Gros Scarabées vase each selling for £20,160*.
Celebrating the glamour of traveling in days gone by, the Travel & Vintage Posters auction, presented in partnership with Vintage Posters specialists Tomkinson Churcher, saw two stylish works designed for the 1934 and 1935 Monaco Grand Prix by Georges Hamel (aka Geo Ham) drew attention, with each selling for £18,900*. Georges Hamel was considered by many to be the most talented automobile poster artist of his era. His works are easily recognisable by his signature driver’s scarf blowing in the wind and by his prominent use of palm trees. Hamel, who signed his works as ‘Geo Ham,’ designed all six of the famous, beautiful and rare Grand Prix de Monaco posters from 1933 to 1948.
British travel posters also commanded good results, with Leslie McDonald Gill's Peter Pan Map of Kensington Gardens at £4,032* and Michael Reilly's Wales for Great Western Railway selling for £3,528*.
We look forward to welcoming you back to our Autumn 2024 series of fine art and design auctions at the Mall Galleries in October. Consignments are now invited to our October 2024 auctions.
*All sold prices include buyer's premium.
View the Full April 2024 Auction Results
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