A double-sided sketch by the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte will be auctioned in Ripon next week.
The sketch will be displayed at Elstob Auctioneers’ fine art sale on Wednesday, May 8.
The two pencil drawings of nude figures in a double-sided gilt decorative frame carries a price estimate of £10,000 to £15,000.
Magritte, who lived from 1898 to 1967, was known for images of clouds, bowler hats, pipes and green apples.
His work influenced pop art, minimalist art and conceptual art. In the 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan, the Magritte painting The Son of Man featured prominently as part of the plot line.
The logo of Apple Corps, The Beatles’ company, is inspired by Magritte’s Le Jeu de Mourre; Paul Simon composed a song Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War and Tom Stoppard wrote a 1970 surrealist play called After Magritte.
The nude pencil studies that feature in Elstob’s sale came from the remaining contents of the studio of Magritte, sold at Sothebys on 2 July 1987. On this occasion, it is being offered for sale by a private collector.
Nude studies sketches by René Magritte
Rohan McCulloch, paintings and sculpture specialist at Elstob Auctioneers, said:
“Even if at first people think they don’t know the name of Magritte, they will most probably be familiar with many of his pictures that have frequently been featured in advertisements, posters, book covers and film.
“Without doubt, he has left a huge cultural legacy and we are very excited to be able to offer this captivating work for sale. Its established provenance will hopefully ensure a considerable interest from collectors around the globe.”
The sale also includes a striking portrait of Miss Hilda Wilkinson by Leeds artist Jacob Kramer (1892-1962), which is anticipated to fetch £6,000 to 8,000 and an oil on canvas by Philip Naviasky (1894-1983) that carries a price estimate of £1,000 – £1,500.
Miss Hilda Wilkinson by Jacob Kramer (left) and Miss May by Philip Naviasky
All lots can be viewed online and bidding on the day of the sale can be made in person, over the telephone or online.
Items can be viewed at the Ripon saleroom on Sunday May 5 and Monday May 6 and the day before the sale on Tuesday May 7.
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Artists throw open studio doors for region-wide exhibition
Artists across the district will be showing off their work over the first two weekends of June as part of the annual North Yorkshire Open Studios (NYOS) event.
Around 140 professional creatives working in every visual medium will open their studios right across the county, to promote and sell their work direct to the public in what has become one of the major events in the region’s cultural calendar.
One of them is Boroughbridge-based Andrea Mosey, who started painting during lockdown after finding her daughter’s old art materials. Since then, she has won this year’s British Contemporary Art award and routinely sells her paintings for up to £1,000. Her studio is in the grounds of Newby Hall, and visitors can access it free of charge over the open studio weekends. She said:
“It’s a lovely light-filled studio with huge picture windows, and I’ll have art for every different kind of budget, ranging from small fine art cards to prints to large oil paintings.”
Curlew by Jo Garlick, who is based near Masham and will be exhibiting over the first two weekends of June.
Harrogate College will also be opening up for its own NYOS exhibition, featuring new work by students on its two-year, part-time MA Creative Practice degree course.
Dr Annabel Smith, programme manager in MA Creative Practice at Harrogate College, said:
“Our MA students come from all walks of life and are often retiring or looking at switching direction and wanting to build on previous artist practice. This degree offers them a great way to change pathways and perhaps launch a new career, or just focus totally on their creative practice.
“The overriding motivation seems to be to grasp the chance of a new start by setting off in a really creative direction.
“The students consistently impress us by the quality of the art they produce, across so many mediums – and we can’t wait for the public to come and see some of their outstanding work at this exhibition.”
The NYOS exhibition’s first weekend will take place on Saturday, June 3 and Sunday 4, and the second will be on Saturday, June 10 and Sunday 11.
The Harrogate College MA students’ work will be available to view on campus each day from 10am to 5pm.
To find out how and where to view work by the 140 other featured artists, visit the North Yorkshire Open Studios website.
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Himalayan Garden inspired artist to host first exhibition
An artist is set to hold an inaugural exhibition this month inspired by Ripon’s Himalayan Gardens and Sculpture Park.
Sophie Roberts, 38, will display 40 pieces of her floral artwork for her debut exhibition, called Painting a Garden.
Sophie grew up in London and spent her life in the city, working in property.
Her career as an artist flourished after she married William Roberts, whose parents, Peter and Caroline, set up the Himalayan Gardens, which William now manages.
She said:
“I met William in London on a blind date, and we’ve been together ever since. We married a couple of years after and he was always clear that Yorkshire was home.
“I call him a homing pigeon, there was no doubt he would come back to Yorkshire.”
She moved to Yorkshire in 2018 while pregnant with twin girls and continued her calligraphy and illustration commissions.
However, when the covid lockdowns hit, the commercial commissions stopped and she turned to painting to fulfil her own creativity.
Sophie pictured painting in the gardens.
Sophie said:
“I was excited to move to Yorkshire, as my grandparents had lived in Burn Bridge near Harrogate, so it was a big part of my childhood. As a child, when I wound the window down when we arrived in Yorkshire, I could just smell it, the fresh air – it felt like you’d arrived. So, to now live in this stunning area is amazing. Just going for a walk is an inspiration.
“I was completely drawn into trying to capture nature and my surroundings.”
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An open-air gallery with over 80 contemporary sculptures in a tranquil valley, the Himalayan Gardens cover 45 acres of woodlands, gardens and an arboretum, with three lakes.
Sophie kept her hand in botanical drawings, setting up workshops in the gardens for the public with artist Bridget Gillespie, a botanical illustrator for over 20 years. Before the era of photography, artists were depended on to share botanical drawings to scientists.
Sophie added:
“My paintings became much free-er.
“I started posting my paintings on Instagram and got traction with people asking to buy them, so it grew from there.”
Many of the paintings in the exhibit at at Tennants in Leyburn from November 16 to December 18, feature flowers, such as magnolias and foxgloves from the Himalayan gardens.
Visitors will have a chance to meet the artist on November 17, when Sophie will be painting live in the gallery.
Breaking barriers at ‘hidden gem’ Harrogate home art galleryWith an expert eye for beautiful pieces, a portfolio of exciting artists and a lovely Harrogate home to pull it all together, this hidden gem of a gallery is breaking down barriers in the art world.
Sarah Collier set up Silson Contemporary in October 2016. Five years later, on a dull, grey day, a beaming Sarah opens the door and her bright, colourful space has immediate impact.
At first it took a big advertising effort to get artists and potential buyers through the door. But these days things are different: people are queuing up to get a glimpse at Sarah’s latest finds.
A home and an art gallery in one.
What started off in the dining room has spread to the living room and reception area. Some pieces are even making their way up the stairs at Silson Contemporary, which can be found on Harlow Oval.
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While Sarah enjoys working from home, it does mean that she has to always keep the space spotless. It also means that she has to love the pieces she exhibits because she lives with them.
It’s not just paintings at Silson Contemporary.
“It was just a little seed in my head. I wanted to set up a gallery and we had this beautiful room with big bay windows, high ceilings, hanging rails. It just went from there.
“People love coming in and seeing art in the home because that is where they are going to put it. This really gives people ideas about how they can display their art.
“The gallery does seem to be a bit more recognised now. I love how the business has grown. We are hidden so word of mouth has been really important.”
The entrance hall is covered from ceiling to floor in art.
There’s a common perception that art is just for people who have a lot of money. That is something that Sarah has been trying to push back against since she started.
“I think that’s a myth that has been perpetuated by the art world because it suits them. But it’s absolute rubbish.
“When I have been to galleries sometimes the staff look you up and down and if they don’t think you are rich they are not interested.
“Art is for everybody, absolutely everybody. I have work here that is expensive and I have work is that is inexpensive.”
Sarah studied art but when she was young she decided not to follow that interest.
However, when she was a radiographer at Harrogate District Hospital she decided to take up an MA in art history. That was the push she needed to get into the art industry and open her own gallery.
She says it was the “best decision she has ever made”. So as someone who loves art, would she ever sell her own pieces?
The artists are from all over the UK.
“No I am rubbish. I love the academic side and I love art but I overthink. All the artists I speak to encourage me but I can’t.
“Though I think that makes me appreciate what these artists do more. How can they know when to stop? How can they know that one extra line makes something special? It’s inspiring.”
Silson Contemporary has just opened an autumn and winter show, which runs until December 23. The gallery is open by appointment only on Fridays and Saturdays.
This is part of the Stray Ferret’s ‘hidden gem’ series. We are trying to highlight small independent businesses. They need to be tucked away but growing in popularity with an eye-catching and unique product or approach. Send us an email with your nominations.
Gallery aims to ‘put Harrogate on the map’ for artA contemporary art gallery has relocated from Kirbymoorside to Harrogate.
Bils & Rye on John Street specialise in 3D works such as sculptures and ceramics, as well as abstract paintings. The owner said there’s room in the market and he hopes the move will add to Harrogate’s rich culture scene.
The owner, Nick Bentley, decided to move his gallery to Harrogate as a result of taking part in an arts festival in 2015. He told the Stray Ferret that Harrogate has great competition for art galleries and he would much rather position himself among his idols in the business.
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He said:
“Harrogate has always been a top destination and the strength of the competition here is brilliant. I think there’s room in the market. We have a very different offering to other galleries, yet I think we can work quite well together and put Harrogate on the map as an art destination.
The gallery will be selling sculptures by Simon Gudgen, as well as internationally acclaimed contemporary British painter Dion Salvador Lloyd.
Despite opening up during a pandemic, Nick told the Stray Ferret that covid has given him more opportunities. He said:
“For me, corona was like a gift of time – it really gave me time to think and realise that this is what I want to do. Because I am relocating the business it gave me chance to say ‘lets do it, but let’s do it right’.”
The gallery will open its doors for the first time in Harrogate this weekend and visitors are advised to pre book an appointment.