This archetypal still-life by Cecil Kennedy (1905-97) topped Halls’ (20% buyer’s premium) £300,000 auction on October 18.
The 19½in x 2ft 2in (50 x 66cm) oil on canvas had been purchased by the vendor from the London gallery Macconnal-Mason, the sole agents for Kennedy’s work until 1995. Summer Flowers,below, attracted bids from North America, and was knocked down above estimate at £8000, against a £4000- 6000 guide.
Kennedy’s detailed oil paintings of flowers, which often include a ladybird or a bumblebee, reached peak demand in 2002 when Bonhams took an auction record £82,000 for a hibiscus and mermaid rose still-life, a high that still stands according to Art Sales Index.