Not seen in public for nearly 70 years, it was consigned to Sotheby’s (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) evening auction on November 19.
Bevan painted his horse-drawn cab pictures between 1908-11, a time of rapid transition when the traditional cab was being replaced by motorised cabs and horses were disappearing from the city landscape.
These scenes were possibly painted under the influence of Walter Sickert, who invited Bevan to join the Fitzroy Street circle and with whom he founded the Camden Town Group. Deemed a prime example of the group’s work, it sold to collector and dealer Daniel Katz for £430,000 (£531,000 with fees).
It was one of 11 records broken during the week-long series of Modern British art sales in London, which totalled £9.2m (£14m with fees) and also achieved a new high for ‘London Group’ painter Ivon Hitchens (£220,000 at Sotheby’s).
Top-seller at Christie’s was a £130,000 bronze dog by Elisabeth Frink (1930-93) while LS Lowry’s (1887-1976) 1929 pencil drawing, Oldham Road, was the most expensive lot at Bonhams with a top bid of £75,000.
