Roseberys' latest Modern British & 20th Century Art auction (14th March 2023) featured a diverse range of works by many of the world’s leading artists of the Modern and Post-War era, including works by international figures Lucas Samaras and Joel Shapiro alongside a range of Modern British artists such as Marion Adnams, Peter King, Terry Frost and Jessica Dismorr.
William Summerfield, Roseberys’ Modern British & 20th Century Art specialist reflected on the sale:
It was a long day of competitive bidding and some extraordinary results, including auction records for a number of artists, including Eden Box, Jessica Dismorr (for a work on paper), Peter King and Marion Adnams. The results for the two works by Lucas Samaras were particularly exciting, marking a strong end to the day.
Two international bidders battled over the phone for Lucas Samaras’s Box #51, 1966, with the price eventually going to £182,000. Not seen in public for over a decade, this early masterpiece by the artist was first part of the Tremaine Collection in the US, which also included pieces by Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, many of which are now in major public collections.
The second work by the artist, Chair Transformation #22, 1969-70, led to another round of competitive bidding, with more than 3 parties bidding by phone and online, driving the price to over 3-times its upper-estimate to £78,000. Bidding was deservedly strong as the work had been included in the artist's early retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art which ran from 1972-73.
Both works were from the collection of Saatchi & Saatchi, London, which had a sell-through rate of nearly 80% and also including lot 426 Joel Shapiro’s Untitled (House), 1974, which over tripled its estimate selling for £28,600 and lot 430 Julian Opie’s Stock Market Red, 1986, which sold for £13,000 off an estimate of £3,000-5,000.
Marion Adnams, La Ronde, 1963, set a new record for the artist at auction, selling for £28,600 – over 5 the previous record, reflecting the heightened interest in the work of British female artists associated with Surrealism.
Lot 78: Jessica Dismorr, British 1885-1939 - Portrait of George Barker, 1934
Continuing this theme, Jessica Dismorr’s, Portrait of George Barker, 1934 set a record for a work on paper by the artist and lot 224 Eden Box’s Leopard, Tororo, East Africa, c.1970-73 was a record for the artist at auction.
Private collections did particularly well; the Collection of an Important Patron of British Art had a sell-through rate of 92%, which highlights being lot 5 Orange and Blue for Aphrodite, 1995 by Sir Terry Frost RA, which sold for £16,900 and lot 10 Man and Baboon, 1989 by Dame Elisabeth Frink, which sold for £9,100. Both the Estate of the late David Cornwell, best-known as the author John Le Carré and the Collection of The Lord Cottesloe, Chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1960-65, had a 100% sell-through rate.
VIEW PART II AUCTION CATALOGUE
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