Roseberys’ Modern British & 20th Century Art auction on Tuesday 3 June is led by a number of significant private collections. 

From the estate of Lady Jessel: Duncan Grant & Alexandrine Kelder

The auction will feature an exceptional group of Post-War paintings from a private collection, including standout works by Austrian Expressionist Arnulf Rainer and Franco-Russian painter Léon Zack. The collection comprises twelve works with a total high estimate of £33,400. 

Lot 19 & 20: Josef Herman

Additional highlights include a collection of works by 20th-century Polish artist Josef Herman, consigned by Boundary Gallery following Roseberys’ successful sale in 2023, as well as pictures from the Estate of Lady Jessel and the charity Paintings in Hospitals.

Lot 62: Arnulf Rainer, Austrian b.1929 - Strauchkathedrale, 1974

Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000

Leading the Post-War collection is Arnulf Rainer’s expressive work Strauchkathedrale (1974). It is a strong example of the artist’s style post-1954, when he turned to the practice of overpainting, the blackening of an existing image. The resulting image conveys a violent, convulsive intensity, reminiscent of the Hiroshima mushroom cloud, a theme Rainer would return to throughout his career as an expression of post-War anxiety. The work is estimated at £8,000–£12,000. A striking abstract work by Russo-French painter Léon Zack also features prominently. Provenanced via The Waddington Galleries and Mr. Norman B. Katz, the work appeared at Sotheby’s New York in 2007 and now returns to market from this distinguished private collection. A similar painting, Peinture, 1952, now resides in the Tate’s collection.

Lot 54: Léon Zack, Russian/French 1892-1980 - Untitled, no.1616, 1959
Estimate: £5,000 - £7,000

“This private collection of Post-War paintings, although modest in scale, offers a sharply focused insight into the shifting landscape of European and American abstraction in the decades following World War II. The group reflects a diversity of artistic practices and approaches that defined the Post-War era,” said William Summerfield, Associate Director and Head of Modern British & 20th Century Art.

Another major highlight is the collection of works by Josef Herman from Boundary Gallery. Roseberys is once again working with the Estate of Agi Katz, founder and director of Boundary Gallery and a close friend of Herman. His powerful depictions of the Welsh working class mining community in Ystradgynlais, where he lived from 1944 to 1955, established him as one of the leading figurative artists of post-War Britain.

Selected works from Paintings in Hospitals

Part II of the sale will present works from Paintings in Hospitals, deaccessioning key pieces by modern and contemporary artists including Mary Fedden, Ben Nicholson, Adrian Heath, and Margaret Mellis. The Paintings in Hospitals Collection was among the first in the UK specifically created to support people’s physical and mental health through art.

Lot 178: Leslie Thornton, British 1925-2016 - Fall of Pompeii, c.1955-63
Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000

Beyond the collections in the auction, standout individual lots include a monumental bronze by British Post-War sculptor Leslie Thornton. The sculpture has been in a private family collection for over fifty years and the original owners were close friends of the artist. It is exceedingly rare to see a work of this scale at auction. 

Lot 68: Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - River at Bridgnorth (with Fishermen), 1911
Estimate: £8,000 - £12,000

A lyrical depiction of the river at Bridgnorth by British Impressionist Philip Wilson Steer completes the sale. The work demonstrates Steer's complete mastery of impressionism and the examples of the great masters, Turner, Whistler and Monet, in his depiction of the transitory effects of mist and light on water.