Contemporary art drew considerable interest recently at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).
The February 24 sale in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, was led by Liverpool artist John Kirby (b.1949), whose work A Good Child sold for 10 times the low estimate at £6800.
Often compared with René Magritte and Edward Hopper, Kirby is known for his haunting doll-like or child/adult hybrid figures, which he uses to explore gender, religion, sexuality and race. Several of his works have sold into five figures at auction, but do not appear regularly on the secondary market.