Work By Art World Icons Going Under the Hammer

Published on: 25 Jan, 2022
Updated on: 25 Jan, 2022

Signed lithograph by Marc Chagall. Permission for use obtained from Ewbank’s

By Mia Paltridge

Original artworks and prints by three giants of the 20th-century art world will be going on sale at Ewbank’s, the Surrey auction house, on Thursday (January 27).

Art lovers will be tempted by works by Andy Warhol, David Hockney and Jackson Pollock at the auction house based in Send, just off the A3 between Guildford and Woking.

Despite the effects of the pandemic, Andrew Ewbank, a partner in the company and son of the founder, said that last month was the best December on record for Ewbank’s. He believed this could, in part, be a sign that public confidence may be returning after two difficult years of Covid 19.

A series of etchings by Hockney, a signed sketch by Warhol, and a Pollock print will be going under the hammer alongside a range of original artworks. A signed stone lithograph in colour by the early modernist painter Marc Chagall will also be on sale.

The Hockney work is an incomplete portfolio of a series of six etchings from his 1969 work, “The Boy Who Left Home To Learn Fear,” based on fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm.

The portfolio is signed by Hockney in pencil and carries a pre-sale guide price of between £2,000 and £4,000.

Black ink sketch of a soup can by Andy Warhol. Permission for use obtained from Ewbank’s

A signed black ink sketch of a soup can by Warhol, the pop artist who died in 1987, has been valued between £1,200 and £1,800 by the team at Ewbank’s. The sketch is of special interest in the light of his iconic painting of a Campbell’s soup can.

A screenprint poster by Jackson Pollock – called “Untitled (Betty Parsons Gallery Announcement)” dating from 1951 – carries an estimate of between £1,000 and £2,000.

In addition, a signed stone lithograph in colour by Russian-French artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) entitled “Tribe of Simeon” is also going on sale. It carries a guide price of between £2,000 and £4,000 and is signed in pencil to the margin.

Commenting on the company’s fortunes during the pandemic, Andrew Ewbank said: “We have had to be very adaptable. Fortunately, we have always invested in technology so we were able to continue operating online sales throughout the various lockdowns but always operating within the laws governing these restrictions.

“In fact at various points the website traffic that we experienced increased significantly over this period. In 2020 we saw a reduction in items consigned by around 20%. However this was matched by an increase in hammer prices by the same amount over the period. In 2021 there was a return to a year on year increase in hammer prices. More recently we have seen a very big increase in consignments and a levelling out in hammer prices. In fact last month was our best December since the company was formed in 1990.”

Mr Ewbank added: “‘I have long believed that auctions are the perfect way for art lovers to buy affordable art, even by big names in the art world, and the upcoming auction is a good reflection of this.”

The bidding will begin at 2pm on January 27, either in person or online via the Ewbanks website http://www.ewbankauctions.co.uk/.