“Silvery Moonlight”, an atmospheric painting by the Victorian master of night scenes John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893), sold for £90,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium) in Tennants Auctioneers’ British, European and Sporting Art Sale on 12th November. The painting was from the estate of Denton Hall in Ilkley, Yorkshire which was part of the NG Bailey group of companies for over 40 years until its recent sale. NG Bailey is the UK’s leading independent engineering and services business and is owned by the Bailey family. The majority of the Denton Hall Collection will be sold at Tennants in March 2023.
John Atkinson Grimshaw was born in Leeds in 1836 and was famous for his paintings of urban, moonlit nocturnal scenes, which he painted from the late 1860s onwards. Inspired by photography which flourished in the Victorian era, he found a passion for realism and would use a camera obscura to project scenes onto canvas. This made for extremely realistic urban scenes, heightened by Grimshaw’s virtuoso handling of colour, lighting and shadows.
In a strong sale overall, which achieved a 90% sold rate, further notable prices were seen for “Going to the Lodge – Scotch Shootings” by Richard Ansdell, which sold for £40,000. Richard Ansdell RA (1815-1885) was one of the most prominent painters of sporting and genre scenes in Victorian Britain. This charming picture was painted at a time when Richard Ansdell was embarking on a life-long love affair with the Scottish Highlands. For four months every year he would visit the Highlands to stay with family and friends in the lodge he built, mixing with the local people, and sensitively recording their daily lives with a backdrop of the dramatic Scottish landscape. On the same theme was ‘Highland Gamekeeper’ by John Frederick Herring Snr. (1795-1865), which sold for £30,000.
In the Sporting section of the sale, works on paper saw competitive bidding, with notable results being achieved for a group of ornithological works by Rodger McPhail (b.1953). Highlights included ‘Pheasants in Stubble’ and ‘Partridge amongst Dandelions’, both of which sold for £2,500, well above top estimate. An impressive William Woodhouse (1857-1939) led the section, however, selling for £9,200 against as estimate of £3,000-5,000.
Herbert Royle (1870-1958) continues to be much in demand in the saleroom, and strong prices were seen for a good offering of his Yorkshire landscapes; “A May Morning” sold for £3,500, and “Lower Dene Farm, Nessfield” sold for £2,500.
The sale achieved a total hammer price of £315,070 with a 90% sold rate for 130 lots.
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