The Northern art hoard that filled the house
A huge collection of paintings by Northern artists that filled the North Yorkshire home of its owners is to go under the hammer in an auction on Friday.
Amassed over a period of 40 years, the collection extends to more than 200 paintings, drawings and sketches that decorated the walls in every room of the large Edwardian house, with a solid mosaic of art sweeping up all three floors of the staircase.
Dominic Cox, Head of Art at Scarborough auctioneers David Duggleby, said: "It was quite something to see but numbers apart it is a remarkable collection, very much focussed on Northern-born artists and subjects, all of the pictures bought by a husband and wife because they liked them, regardless of whether or not the painters were famous or in fashion at the time".
The collection is particularly rich in the paintings of the Staithes Group, the French impressionist-inspired colony of artists that developed in the late 19th century."
The 36 Staithes Group lots in the auction include five paintings by Frank Henry Mason (1875-1965), the Hartlepool-born son of a railway clerk who was one of the founding members of the group. Mason worked as a sea-going engineer before becoming a full-time artist, renowned for his maritime paintings and for the art deco railway posters that he created for the major railway companies in the 1920s and 30s.
The Staithes section also includes five paintings, a sketch and a signed etching by Newcastle-born John Atkinson (1863-1924). He did not even become a professional artist he had his first acceptance for a Royal Academy Exhibition at the age of 37. Atkinson is most famous for his animal paintings, particularly horses, a talent that resulted in him being invited to provide the artwork for various RSPCA advertisements. (All of the Mason pictures in the auction but one feature horses.)
Other renowned Staithes Group artists in the sale include Halifax-born Rowland Henry Hill 1873-1952) whose work was regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon, and Joseph Alfred Terry (1872-1939) a man who turned his back on a business career (he was a member of the famous York chocolate making family) to study at the School of Art in York and two Paris academies.
Dominic said: "Away from the Staithes Group, the picture that has been attracting the most interest ahead of the auction is 'Riding Out at Middleham on a Winter's Morning', an atmospheric oil on canvas depicting a group of jockeys exercising their horses, painted in 1999 by the remarkable Darlington artist William Edward Rees (1933 -). He was 47 years old when he decided to become a professional artist in 1980 and just four years later he emigrated to Australia where he lived and worked for many years before returning home to County Durham. Rees pictures are something of a rarity at auction”.
The collection is going under the hammer following the decision of the owners . . . who wish to remain anonymous . . . to downsize to a smaller property and to dispose of their entire collection. Pre-sale estimates for the 179 lots in this unusual sale range from £50 through to £3,000.
The catalogue for the auction - 'A Single Owner Picture Collection' - is available online (www.davidduggleby.com). The auction at the Vine Street Saleroom in Scarborough gets underway at 11 o'clock on Friday (November 14).