When it comes to portraits produced by Frank Owen Salisbury (1874-1962), values are frequently determined by the fame of the sitter.
At the top of the tree stand his paintings of Sir Winston Churchill – one of which made £100,000 at Christie’s in 1997 and another fetched £90,000 at Sotheby’s in 2020. While the artist painted plenty of other notable figures, he painted the wartime prime minister on more occasions than any other artist.
Earlier this summer, a fascinating portrait by Salisbury depicting the cellist Beatrice Harrison (1892-1965) emerged at Minster Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) in Leominster, Herefordshire. While the sitter might not be a household name, she remains a well-known figure in musical circles.