Latest news with #Cheffins'
Euronews
03-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
A lost Salvador Dalí painting bought for £150 is set for auction
Two years ago, a curious watercolour tucked away in a London garage surfaced at a house clearance sale in Cambridge. It sold for just £150 (€173). Now, that same artwork - a rare original by none other than the lobster-obsessed, moustache-twirling Surrealist icon Salvador Dalí - is poised to fetch up to £30,000 (€34,700) at auction this October. The painting in question, titled "Vecchio Sultano (1966)", depicts a regal sultan in a lavish, jewel-encrusted turban, inspired by the tales of The Arabian Nights. Measuring 15-by-11 inches and created using watercolour and felt-tip pen, the piece is a far cry from Dalí's melting clocks or dreamlike landscapes. But it has been authenticated by leading Dalí expert Nicolas Descharnes, and will go under the hammer at Cheffins' Art and Design Sale in Cambridge. The origins of the painting trace back to 1963, when wealthy Italian patrons Giuseppe and Mara Albaretto commissioned Dalí to illustrate a Bible. But, true to form, the artist had other plans. 'It seems Dalí was fascinated with Moorish culture and believed himself to be from a Moorish line,' said Gabrielle Downie, an associate at Cheffins. 'While Dalí's work is often some of the most recognisable, this is an unusual piece which shows a different side to his practice when working in watercolour.' Instead, Dalí embarked on an ambitious series of illustrations inspired by "One Thousand and One Nights", the legendary compendium of Middle Eastern folk tales. Although he initially agreed to create 500 works, he only completed 100. 'It seems that this project was abandoned,' Downie explained. Half of the completed works were retained by publishing house Rizzoli, which had planned to release the collection - until the pieces were either lost or damaged. Eventually one of the pieces appeared unexpectedly in 2023 when a Cambridge-based antiques dealer spotted Vecchio Sultano at a house clearance sale. The watercolour will go will go under the hammer at Cheffins' Art and Design Sale in Cambridge on 23 October.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Artist's double-sided painting fetches £162,500
A two-sided painting by a renowned East Anglian artist has sold at auction for more than double its estimated value. Cambridge-based auctioneers Cheffins said the Cedric Morris artwork, which had never been sold on the open market before, fetched £162,500 and showed the artist's "continued popularity". Morris (1889-1982), who founded the East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing in Essex before moving it to Suffolk, was believed to have finished the artwork in the 1930s before gifting it to his student, Bettina Shaw-Lawrence. The oil on canvas, which featured a floral landscape on one side and rural building on the reverse, was sold to a London-based bidder on Thursday. The auction was the first time the painting had been available on the open market. It followed Cheffins' previous auction of another Morris which had been gifted to fellow artist Lucy Harwoodwork. The other side depicted outbuildings at the art school at Benton End, near Hadleigh in Suffolk, which had relocated from Dedham in Essex after a fire. Morris ran the private art school with fellow painter Arthur Lett-Haines. Aldeburgh Scallop sculptor Maggi Hambling was one of their pupils. Brett Tryner, a director at Cheffins said: "This is an excellent result and demonstrates Morris's continued popularity as one of the most sought-after artists in the post-modern era. "The paintings enviable provenance, having been gifted directly by Morris to Bettina Shaw-Lawrence, helped to ensure this painting had some serious pre-sale interest, with inquiries from both private buyers and institutions the world over. "Perfectly demonstrating the period in Morris's career when he produced some of his most wonderful still-life pictures, this painting was unusual to have firstly been fresh-to-market, but also to have another view painted on the reverse." The landscape paintings were given to Cheffins to auction by the Shaw-Lawrence family. Mr Tryner said Bettina Shaw-Lawrence had been a well-regarded artist herself and initially attended art classes by the painter Fernand Léger in 1938. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex or BBC Suffolk. Cedric Morris works going under the hammer Film celebrates 'ferocious' artist as she turns 75 Surgeon's art collection to go under the hammer Hambling unveils 75th birthday lockdown works BBC Radio 3: Free Thinking talks to Hambling about Cedric Morris Cheffins
BBC News
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Double-side Cedric Morris paintings auctioned for £162,500
A never-seen-in-public two-sided painting by a renowned East Anglian artist has sold at auction for more than double its estimated auctioneers Cheffins said the Cedric Morris artwork fetched £162,500 and showed the artist's "continued popularity".Morris (1889-1982), who founded the East Anglian School of Painting & Drawing in Essex before moving it to Suffolk, was believed to have finished the artwork in the 1930s before gifting it to his student, Bettina oil on canvas, which featured a floral landscape on one side and rural building on the reverse, was sold to a London-based bidder on Thursday. The auction was the first time the painting had been available on the open followed Cheffins' previous auction of another Morris which had been gifted to fellow artist Lucy other side depicted outbuildings at the art school at Benton End, near Hadleigh in Suffolk, which had relocated from Dedham in Essex after a ran the private art school with fellow painter Arthur Lett-Haines. Aldeburgh Scallop sculptor Maggi Hambling was one of their Tryner, a director at Cheffins said: "This is an excellent result and demonstrates Morris's continued popularity as one of the most sought-after artists in the post-modern era. "The paintings enviable provenance, having been gifted directly by Morris to Bettina Shaw-Lawrence, helped to ensure this painting had some serious pre-sale interest, with inquiries from both private buyers and institutions the world over. "Perfectly demonstrating the period in Morris's career when he produced some of his most wonderful still-life pictures, this painting was unusual to have firstly been fresh-to-market, but also to have another view painted on the reverse."The landscape paintings were given to Cheffins to auction by the Shaw-Lawrence Tryner said Bettina Shaw-Lawrence had been a well-regarded artist herself and initially attended art classes by the painter Fernand Léger in 1938. Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex or BBC Suffolk.
