Old masters mix with modern art

THE first auction of the New Year at Charterhouse is of nearly 1,000 lots on Thursday, January 7 and Friday, January 8.

“Thankfully we have been busy over the past couple of months, having seen strong interest and high prices at our auctions showing both buyer and seller confidence in the market,” commented Richard Bromell. “The January auction has an eclectic selection to say the least, with old master to modern pictures along with mid-century furniture, ceramics, antiques and interiors.”

From the old masters there is a wash drawing of a fisherman near a bridge. From a Dorset farmhouse, this drawing is attributed to Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (1591-1666), and is estimated at £400-600. After Raphael (1483-1520), is an old copy of his Madonna Del Cardellino, more commonly referred to as the Madonna of the Goldfinch, estimated at £600-1,000 from a Dorset deceased estate.

However, if old master pictures are not your bag then there is plenty of modern art to choose from in the auction. Three watercolour drawings by Edwin Penny, removed from the walls of a Somerset country house, are beautifully detailed drawing of birds of prey. Edwin Penny, born in Bristol 1930, was an accomplished 20th century artist who painted from memory, with each picture going under the Charterhouse gavel estimated at £100-200 each.

Also from Somerset, from in a house near Taunton, is a painting by Robert O. Lenkiewicz (1941-2002). Lenkiewicz was one of the South West’s most celebrated artists of modern times and also one of its most controversial artists too. The Charterhouse oil painting of Elaine Armstrong is estimated at £1,0001,500

Elsewhere in the auction, there is a great selection of mid-century modern furnishings, from Danish furniture to Arkana, Ercol, Ladderax and G-Plan.

Most of this furniture comes to Charterhouse from West Country deceased estates where the furniture was the height of fashion when new.

It then fell into the non-chic but functional category during the 1980s & 1990s, and has now regained its cool looking interior crown in the 21st century.

This Charterhouse auction of pictures, prints, books, maps and decorative arts, mid-century modern is on Thursday, January 7, followed by Beswick, antiques & interiors on Friday, January 8. All the lots, with live internet bidding, can be viewed on www.charterhouse-auction.com.

Contact the team at Charterhouse, Sherborne on 01935 812277 or email info@charterhouse-auction.com.

> Mid-century modern cool – an Arkana Tulip dining room suite, £300-500

> Robert Oscar Lenkiewicz (19412002), a portrait of Elaine Armstrong, £1,000-1,500

> After Raphael (14831520), Madonna Del Cardellino, £600-1,000

> Edwin Penny, study of a Hobby Hawk, £100-200