The growing demand in recent years to own pictures by women artists has brought this long-overlooked area of the art market to the fore. In an auction at Cirencester auction house Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) two works by women painters stood out.
The first included in the Fine Art, Antiques & Textiles sale on October 22 was Wives and Flowers, a fresh-to-market oil by the self-taught artist Mary Newcomb (1922-2008), known best for her dream-like pastoral scenes of the Norfolk countryside.
The 2ft 6in x 2ft 7in (75 x 78cm) oil on board, dated 1961 and inscribed verso with the price of 20gns, was obtained directly from the artist as part-payment for architectural alterations to the Newcomb family home at Mill Farm in Neatham, Norfolk, which was carried out by a local firm owned by Sheila and Michael Gooch in 1961. Passed by descent to the vendor, it was knocked down at £8000 against a £7000-10,000 estimate.