Art specialist Abigail Molenaar was delighted with the prices achieved in Halls Fine Art’s modern and contemporary art online auction last week.
The timed auction included the second part of late West Midlands surgeon Magdi Latif Obeid’s art collection, which was consigned to the Shrewsbury-based fine art auction house. The whole collection, comprising 350 paintings, prints and sculptures, sold for more than £70,000.
Top price in the auction was £3,200 for ‘Family at the Beach’, an oil painting by Mary Adshead (1904-1995) which was hotly contested and sailed over its estimate. ‘Santa Margarita, Italy’, a well-cared for oil on canvas with striking colours, by Cecil Rochford Doyly-John (1906-‘93), sold for £2,800 against an estimate of up to £2,000.
‘Two Marble Forms (Mykonos)’, a lithograph by Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), found a new home for £2,550, ‘Out of Town’, an oil painting by Geoffrey Woolsey Birks (1929-1993), made £2,000 and ‘British Destroyer Passing the Needles, Isle of Wight’, an oil painting by Montague Dawson (1890-1973), sold for £1,850.
Abigail’s personal favourite work, an unusual sculpture by Eduardo Paolozzi for Nairn Flooring which was still complete with its original box and original inserts, sold above the top estimate for £950.
“I am delighted with the sale result,” said Abigail. “The catalogue had a huge amount of variety, with something to suit every buyer and every budget. Bidders were battling to secure their favourite pieces, with interested parties from across the UK, Europe, America and Canada.
“The sale of Mr Obeid’s collection was a resounding success, having achieved in excess of £70,000. It is always such a pleasure to handle a collection that has been put together from a sheer love of art and of collecting. This result further enhances Halls Fine Art’s strong track record for single owner estate sales.”
Abigail is now accepting entries for Halls Fine Art’s next modern and contemporary art auction next spring. She is happy to view and provide valuations without obligation to sell for collections and individual works of art.
She can be contacted at [email protected] or Tel: 01743 450700.
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‘Santa Margarita, Italy’ by Cecil Rochford Doyly-John sold for £2,800.