Strong sale of Grosvenor School prints

Tennants Auctioneers recent sale of 81 prints and other works made by members of the Grosvenor School of Art produced some exceptionally strong results earlier this month.

Having been consigned for auction by the Great Nephew of Edith Lawrence (the partner of British artist Claude Flight), the latest instalment from the family arrived at Tennants wrapped in brown paper and had been tucked away in folios since their execution. The collection consists of many important examples of lino cut prints, watercolours, illustrations, and even some original lino cut blocks, which all remained in vibrant colour and good condition.

Dorrit Black's 'Toucan'With impeccable provenance to boot, they went on to perform to their full advantage selling to national and international buyers. The top price was secured for Lill Tschudi’s highly stylized rendition Boats at £8,500,
with several of the works by Australian print maker Dorrit Black following closely behind at £7,000 for Corner of the Garden, £5,800 for Toucans and The Quartet secured £5,200.

A folder of drawings and verses by director of the school Claude Flight commanded a strong price of £3,000 and two lots including original lino cut blocks for some of his children’s books secured £1,800 and £1,400 respectively.

Edith Lawrence’s 'Cricket'Examples by Edith Lawrence also saw an enormous amount of activity – a group of watercolours at the start of the sale all sold above estimate, one lot containing five drawings mostly of abstract design made £1,300, while a selection of oil paintings including the artist’s paint tins commanded keen bidding to take the hammer price to £1,200 against a £200-300 estimate.

Lot 811 contained a number of textiles and applique works by Lawrence, which hinted at the ethos of the school to provide not only affordable lino cut prints, but also a comprehensive approach to integrated design schemes for the home. This lot also exceeded all expectations by finally selling for £1,900. Edith Lawrence’s lino cuts were no less sought-after with prices ranging between £6,200 for the iconic Cricket to £700.

The auction’s sold rate was 93% and entire Hammer was a total of £154,450.

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