Modern and contemporary British art racked up £195,000 at a Roseberys (23% buyer’s premium) sale, with 80% of the 252 lots sold.
The January 24 sale, which was the first to be held under ex-Christie’s picture specialist Elizabeth Comba, could have generated even more had the potential sale-topper – a work by contemporary art duo Gilbert & George – got away. It was estimated at £60,000-100,000.
Instead, Mod Brit painter Howard Hodgkin (1932-2017) took top honours with Painted Souvenir, a one-off oil on silkscreen work from 1988. It was painted over an artist’s proof of his 1981 screenprint Souvenir, an abstract edition inspired from his time in India, with examples in the Tate and the British Council Collection.