Loaded Hay Wagon and Haymaking before a Sun-Drenched Coast by Arthur A Friedenson, £6200 at Tennants.
They ran a gallery for over 40 years. However, both died last year and their business is now closed.
The works at the Leyburn sale on July 15 were predominantly pictures by Staithes artists and the collection raised a £107,860 hammer total, more than doubling the low estimate.
Artist colony
The top lot was a view of a loaded hay wagon overlooking a sun-drenched coast by Arthur A Friedenson (1872-1955).
Signed and indistinctly dated (18)94, the 11¼ x 17¼in (29 x 44cm) oil on canvas was described by the saleroom as a ‘jewel-like’ picture by the Leeds-born painter who joined the colony of artists in the North Yorkshire fishing village of Staithes after returning from his spell studying in Paris and Antwerp.
The work was in restored condition having been relined, cleaned and re-varnished.
While it was described in the catalogue as in a ‘broadly stable and highly presentable state’, buyers nevertheless tend to favour works in their original condition so long as they are not overly compromised.
Estimated at £1000-1500, the painting still attracted strong interest in no small part thanks to its bright colours and appealing subject and it eventually sold at £6200 to a private UK buyer.
The sum was the third highest for the artist at auction according to Artprice.com.
Further works
Elsewhere at the sale, four works by Mark Senior (1862-1927) all drew bidding, with a small 1920 landscape surpassing a £800-1200 estimate and selling at £3800 also to a private UK buyer.
Four works by Ralph Hedley (1848-1913) also all sold above their attractive estimates with Mending the Nets, a signed and dated oil on canvas from 1886, taking £2800 (estimate £800-1200) despite a few condition issues.
Attractive composition
Cyclamen and Honesty by Olwyn Bowey, £6000 at Tennants.
One of the strongest com petitions came for a bright picture by Olwyn Bowey (b.1936).Probably painted in the artist’s greenhouse, which doubled as her studio, the 3ft 4in x 2ft 6in (1.01m x 76cm) signed oil on board was titled Cyclamen and Honesty.
The good size and attractive composition, as well as the fact that the artist’s market is seemingly on the rise (the two highest prices at auction have both been recorded this year), helped it surpass an £800- 1200 estimate.
It was knocked down at £6000.
