East Anglian art in the spotlight

A dedicated sale showcasing the best of East Anglian art will take place at Colchester auction house Reeman Dansie this month.

The art auction has been held bi-annually for over a decade now and their team believes the forthcoming sale is one of the best to date. Including over 300 lots of East Anglian paintings, sculpture, maps and books, the sale charts the distinct artistic lineage unique to the region.

The 19th-century Ipswich and Norwich school artists are well represented, including an oil landscape by John Sell Cotman (1782-1842), an artist synonymous with watercolour but whose oils are rarely seen at auction. His painting entitled Two boys fishing beside a stream carries an estimate of £5,000-7,000 in the sale.

Elsewhere, a highly atmospheric oil sketch by Alfred Munnings entitled A Norfolk Lane has hopes of £10,000-15,000.

 Edward Seago, in many ways Munnings’ protégée, is well represented in the auction with six works, including Norfolk Farm, a large oil on canvas, estimated at £8000-12000. 

For 20th-century art lovers the auction catalogue reads like a who’s-who of East Anglian artists, including works by Anna Airy, Henry Moore, Leonard Squirrell, Harry Becker, Richard Bawden, Tessa Newcomb, Mary Potter, Peter Coker, Michael Rothenstein and Clive Madgwick, to name but a selection. 

Contemporary art lovers might prefer the the sculptures by Laurence Edwards, Guy Taplin or Robert Adams, or Maggi Hambling’s The Wave painting, estimated at £3,000-5,000. 

The sale takes place on April 30.