CHRISTIE’S MODERN BRITISH AND IRISH ART EVENING SALE IS LIVE FOR BROWSING 21 MARCH 2023

Nicholas Orchard, Head of Modern British and Irish Art, Christie’s: “The selection of works included in the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale represent the pioneering movements that shaped the 20th century across the UK and Ireland. One of the most dynamic periods of creativity, the sale includes the most comprehensive group of Vorticist works to appear on the market to date. Henry Moore’s Mother and Child with Apple will lead the auction and is featured alongside Barbara Hepworth’s exquisite sculpture Pierced Form (Toledo). A pioneer of the St Ives movement, Hepworth’s works are offered alongside examples of the movements ground-breaking painters. As the lead auction house for L.S. Lowry, Christie’s is delighted to offer a group of five works by the artist as a focal point.”

- As Henry Moore often acknowledged, the archetypal subject of the mother and child is one that lies at the very heart of his art. Mother and Child with Apple (1956, estimate: £3,300,000-5,000,000) is distinguished by its opening up of the space between the mother and child into a dynamic informal expression of the child’s inquisitiveness

- Christie’s showcases the work of the St Ives group, the town recognised as a centre for abstraction from the 1940s-60s. Barbara Hepworth leads the group this season with Pierced Form (Toledo) (1957, estimate: £2,500,000-3,500,000), which is from her acclaimed string series. Paintings by Ben Nicholson, Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, William Scott, and Christopher Wood are also offered

- The explosive first issue of BLAST magazine appeared in 1914, with its bright pink cover, announcing the manifesto of a group of artists who would be known as the Vorticists. Their young, energetic and innovative creativity, inspired by the fast-paced mechanised world, was evident throughout the large pages of this rebellious magazine, and they had already succeeded in transforming British art with dramatic zeal. This is the largest group of Vorticist art presented to the market and includes works by Wyndham Lewis, David Bomberg, Edward Wadsworth, William Roberts, Lawrence Atkinson, and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

- In October 2022, Christie’s set the world auction record for L.S. Lowry’s Going to the Match. Renowned for bringing the best examples of the artist’s work to our Modern British and Irish Art sale platforms, this season a group of five paintings by Lowry are included in the Evening Sale; The Railway Platform (1953, estimate: £1,000,000-2,000,000); Glasgow Docks (1947, estimate: £1,100,000-1,500,000); The Clock Tower (1938, estimate: £400,000-600,000); Mrs Swindells’ Picture (1967, estimate; £250,000-350,000); and A Lancashire Farm (1945, estimate: £180,000-250,000)

- One of Pop Art’s founding members, Pauline Boty died prematurely at the age of 28. BUM was her final painting and set a then-record price for the artist when it was auctioned by Christie’s in November 2017. The painting was originally commissioned by theatre critic Kenneth Tynan for his erotic cabaret Oh! Calcutta. He also owned the preparatory work presented in the Modern British and Irish Art Evening Sale, BUM (1966, estimate: £60,000-80,000)

- A group of four works by David Hockney, ‘The Making of a Master: Works by David Hockney from an Important Private Collection’, focus on his artistic output during the 1960s and very early 1970s, highlighted by an intimate portrait of the artist’s friend, the textile designer Celia Birtwell, Celia (1970, estimate: £180,000-250,000), presented at auction for the first time

- Highlighting the Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale on 22 March, Ian Fairweather’s Café in Rice Field (1935, estimate; £80,000-120,000) was painted in Beijing, where Fairweather lived between 1935-36. Characteristic of his work at the time, quick pencil lines, which sketch out the composition, are visible beneath daubs of subtle colour, some brushed onto the surface and others applied with a palette knife