Bargain Hunt star to auction father’s works
Bargain Hunt star Natasha Raskin Sharp will auction a collection of her famous artist father's paintings – in an attempt to transform how art is bought and sold.
Ms Raskin Sharp, 34, will sell original paintings by her father, world renowned contemporary artist Philip Raskin, 74, with no buyer's commission added.
The 25 artworks will go under the hammer as part of her online venture, Exhibit Auctions, after filming came to a temporary halt due to the pandemic.
She decided to launch the venture during the lockdown and said Mr Raskin was the person who told her to apply for a job in an auction house ten years ago.
The auction will be broadcast live online from his studio in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, on March 17.
Ms Raskin Sharp said: "Having been beholden to busy filming schedules for so long, the initial lockdown provided an opportunity to stop and think, and to review my career.
"I began to dream of a side project, something that could be there if, for whatever reason, TV work wasn't,” she continued.
"I thought about launching my own auction house or art gallery but, given that I spend so much time on the road, the idea of working within fixed premises isn't a practical one,” she said.
"So I've developed a more flexible style of auction offering and as it's online-only, it's a truly pandemic-proof concept, too.
"Each auction will offer a collection of artworks by one artist and the location for each sale will be the exhibiting artist's studio.
"With my travelling rostrum and trusty gavel – a gift from my dad, as it happens – I'll auction off the artworks from the very rooms in which they were created."
Mr Raskin encouraged his daughter ten years ago to seek a career in the auction world.
Ms Raskin Sharp, who is also a reporter on The One Show, added: "For many, auction houses are unfamiliar territory and people are especially put off by the commission added to the hammer price.
"I've decided to add zero per cent buyer's commission to the hammer price so that when you buy an artwork at Exhibit Auctions, what you bid is what you'll pay.
"I'm so familiar with dad's studio, it's the perfect place to start.
"I genuinely can't wait to sell his paintings and the timing couldn't be better – exactly ten years ago he pestered me relentlessly to apply for a job in an auction house. "Thank goodness he did." Mr Raskin rediscovered his passion for painting in the early 2000s after a short spell at the Glasgow School of Art in the mid-1960s.
He said: "I'm immensely proud of Natasha and what she's achieved.
"As her father I'm bound to say it, but I've been so impressed by the amount of effort that she's ploughed into this project. I really believe that it will capture the imagination of artists and collectors across the UK and beyond.”