More than 100 paintings owned by the Royal Society of Marine Artists were dispersed in a Norfolk auction.
The group, known as the Diploma Collection, comprised ‘representative work’ donated by every marine artist admitted to the society since it was founded in 1939. Still largely intact, the collection had been in storage and rarely seen until it went under the hammer at Keys (20% buyer’s premium) in Aylsham on February 9.
The auctioneer reported a “packed saleroom, buzzing phone line, and brisk commission and online bidding”. Around 70% of lots found buyers, with the majority of hammer prices within or exceeding estimates.