An important bronze sculpture by the French artist and sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891-1915), who died in the trenches aged just 23 years old, sold in Tennants Auctioneers’ Modern and Contemporary Art Sale on 5th October for £30,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). “Torpedo Fish” measured just 19.5cm high and was cast in the early 1960s from Gaudier-Brzeska’s hand-cut model.
Having arrived in London to become and artist, with no formal training, Gaudier-Brzeska soon became an integral part of the avant-garde art scene, particularly the Vorticist movement. He was fascinated by the natural world and felt alienated from urban culture, although he never strayed from city life. The tension between his desire to represent nature and the driving force of modernity and city life - electricity - as espoused by Vorticism, is reflected in “Torpedo Fish”, which was inspired by a type of electric ray. The cut brass version was sold to T.E. Hulme, one of the theorists of Vorticism, and was one of a number of small sculptures he made to amuse close friends and associates that he referred to as ‘toys’.
Two interesting works by Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948) were also of note, both with provenance from Edith ‘Wantee’ Thomas, his partner; a Landscape sold for £9,000, and his Portrait of John Mackereth sold for £4,000. Both works had been exhibited in Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal. Schwitters was one of the most influential European avant-garde artists of the 20th century, and was associated with several movements including Dada, De Stijl and Constructivism. Having fled from Germany in 1937, he moved to London before moving to the Lake District after the end of the war where he stayed for the rest of his life.
Northern Art continues to thrive, with notable results achieved for four works by Manchester-born Geoffrey Key (b.1941) consigned from a private collection; the artist’s “Four Ages of Women” and “Horses” sold for £10,000 each. A small private collection of six works by North East mining artist Norman Cornish remain popular, too, led by a charming family scene of the artist’s wife, Sarah, drying their son before a fire, which sold for £9,000.
From further afield were two colourful works by Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis (1903-1970), whose work rarely appears on the British market, yet she remains one of Canada’s best-loved artistic figures. Living in poverty for most of her adult life, she painted joyous, nostalgic and vibrant pictures of rural life in her Nova Scotia home. Nostalgic, yet optimistic, her works depict a happy simplicity with a touch of humour. Her most popular subjects were painted again and again, with minor variations, such as the present example Sandy Cove, which sold for £7,000. The other work on offer, The Bride, was a more unusual subject for the artist with far fewer variations known and sold for £21,000.
Also selling well was a rare architectural work by Dame Eileen Mayo. “Circular Quay, Sydney” was executed in 1964, following Mayo’s emigration to the Southern Hemisphere, and sold for £3,800. Dame Eileen Mayo was a multi-talented artist; a printmaker, painter, illustrator, designer and author whose long career spanned the globe from England to Australasia, yet she never lost the primary focus of her creativity - depicting the natural world.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £260,760 for the 149 lots, and a 91% sold rate.
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