AuctionPublicity.com - London’s most popular landmarks portrayed through the ages by renowned artists such as John Paul, Stanhope Alexander Forbes, Robert Hardy and Anne Langford Dent will be sold in the Views of London sale at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on Tuesday 27 November 2007. The sale will include approximately 100 views of London.
Jeremy Waite, Director of Pictures in Knightsbridge says, “This sale represents views of 18th Century London to present day, providing a fascinating insight into the life in the capital through the ages. It is the perfect opportunity to acquire a past or present artwork of the favourite places of London.”
Scenes of Chelsea, Richmond, The Embankment, Westminster, St Pauls, London Bridge, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and many more will be offered for sale.

One of the highlights in the sale is an oil on canvas, titled Nightshift on the Embankment by Stanhope Alexander Forbes (1857-1947). Produced in 1921, the work is estimated at £15,000-25,000.
Forbes reputation as a painter centres upon his role in the establishment and development of the Newlyn School of painting from the 1880s. The work illustrates railway workers, Cleopatra’s needle, Somerset House and St Paul’s. Forbes’s decision to depict London workers lies outside the usual parameters of his better known subject matter consisting of Cornish characters and landscapes although the portrayal of labourers and workingmen was a key theme in his work.

Throughout his career Forbes was committed to capturing the effects of artificial light and encapsulating the mood and atmosphere of night. In Nightshift on the Embankment, the viewer’s eye is drawn to the small fires, which surround the workers. Forbes uses these fires to focus the viewer’s attention on the labour of the workers, which he rendered heroic and virtuous by suggestions of their physical strength and expressing the harmony of individual actions within a group. The square brush technique of painting, use of thick pigments and deep strong colours are particularly effective in capturing the subtle hues of the night time sky.
The painting also provides viewers with a unique glimpse into the re-building of post war London.
A striking modern gouache on paper designed as a poster, advertising ‘Visit London Parks by Underground,’ by Hazel Bruce (est £500-700) will also be sold. A pair of oils on canvas depicting a view of Northumberland House, Charing Cross and a view of Westminster Hall is estimated at £6,000-8,000 while Westminister Bridge & St James’ Park also by John Paul is estimated at £3,000-4,000. Trafalgar Square by Ann Langford Dent portrays the famous square on a bustling autumns day (£300-500).

Further highlights include :

Shipping on the Thames, with the Tower Beyond by Charles John de Lacy (British, 1856-1936) £3,000-5,000.

A Stroll in Windsor Park by John Edmund Buckley (British, 1824-1876) - £2,000-3,000.

Richmond Park by Alfred Edward Borthwick (British, 1871-1955) - £2,000-3,000.

Pool of London by Brian J. Jones (British, 20th Century) - £1,500-2,000.

The Thames near St Pauls by Brian J. Jones (British, 20th Century) - £1,500-2,000.

The Palace of Westminster from the Thames attributed to Claude Francis Barry - £1,500-2,000.

View of old London Bridge from Fishmongers by Gideon Yates (British, 1790-1837) £1,200-1,800.

Buckingham Palace by Paul Haig (British, Contemporary) - £800-1,200.

Posted: 11|7|07 at 10:26 am. Filed under: Press Release.