Bonhams Prints and Multiples sale on July 15th offered a fantastic opportunity for art lovers to purchase works by some of the western world’s greatest artists at accessible prices. The Old Masters to Contemporary giants were represented in the sale at the company’s headquarters in 101 New Bond Street.
The top lot was an etching of a whippet dog by the great 20th century artist Lucian Freud, titled Pluto Aged Twelve, which sold for £85,300. The work was produced in 2000 and was exhibited in London’s National Portrait Gallery – ‘Lucian Freud Portraits’ in May 2012.
Sybil Andrews’ dynamic 1934 linocut of horses racing achieved the second highest price as a bidder in the saleroom secured the lot for £43,750.
A series of 100 engraved works by Salvador Dali (1904-1989), titled Dante Alighieri: La Divine Comédie and signed and inscribed in colour crayon, sold for £40,000. They were published by Les Heures Claires, Paris and date from 1960-64.
Old Master greats, Albrecht Dürer (German 1471-1528) and J.W.M. Turner (British, 1775-1851) achieved outstanding results: Dürer’s 1514 engraving, St Jerome in his study sold for £32,500 against £6,000-£8,000 estimates while a fantastic collection of 71 etchings with mezzotint by J.W.M Turner, published between 1807 and 1819 and designed to educate future artists, realised £27,500.
Other notable lots included a screenprint by Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987) titled Apple, from Ads which sold for £ 22,500 and an aquatint by David Hockney (British, born 1937) named Kaisarion and All His Beauty (executed 1961) which near doubled its pre-sale estimate to sell for £13,125.