Buy a watercolour from an expert’s collection at auction
13 September 2024 A major collection of British watercolours will be offered for sale at Olympia Auctions on October 2.
The Great Lavra Belltower of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, a watercolour from the Williams collection attributed to Sir Robert Ker Porter being offered at Olympia Auctions. View the catalogue entry.
The group of 350 drawings and watercolours once belonged to the well known connoisseurial collector Iolo Williams (1890-1962) and have been consigned to auction by his grandson. They will be offered as 88 lots, some of which will comprise up to 10 separate works.
Born in Middlesborough, Williams was an art critic for The Times from 1936 onwards and formed the bulk of his collection in the 1930-50s. He published his definitive collector’s guide titled Early English Watercolours in 1952 and eight years later he donated 24 drawings to the British Museum and bequeathed another 65 upon his death.
He also gave four drawings by Richard Wilson to the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven.
The works offered here had been kept safely in storage boxes under a bed for nearly half a century. They date mainly from the 18th and early 19th centuries and estimates range from £150 up to £1500.
Suzanne Zack of Olympia Auctions said: “Williams’ meticulous research and passion for British art leaves an enduring legacy. He will always be recognised as a pivotal figure in the appreciation and study of early British watercolours and drawings and it has been a privilege to handle this rare collection, straight from the family and otherwise unseen for more than half a century.”
Here are five works in the sale that caught our eye.
1. Indian landscape
This Thomas Daniell (1749-1840) watercolour over pencil was one of the original sketches the artist produced showing views of India, where he famously travelled to accompanied by his nephew William. It depicts Colgong (now known as Kahalgaon) and measures 11 x 15.75in (29 x 40cm). At the Olympia Auctions sale, it is estimated at £1000-1500. View the catalogue entry for this Thomas Daniell watercolour.
2. View of Malaysia
This view of Pulau Penang Island in Malaysia by Thomas Sunderland (1744-1828) is one of three watercolours by the artist offered together as a single lot with an estimate of £800-1200. The pen and ink and blue and grey wash over pencil measures 9 x 11½in (20 x 28cm). View the catalogue entry for this Thomas Sunderland sketch.
3. Norfolk castle
A rare view inscribed Castle rising, Norfolk attributed to British-American artist George Beck (1775-1863) is also featured in the Olympia Auctions sale. The artist was born in Staffordshire but emigrated to America in 1795. There, his best-known paintings The Potomac River Breaking through the Blue Ridge and The Great Falls of the Potomac were purchased by George Washington in 1797 to be hung in the New Room that Washington had built at Mount Vernon following the Revolutionary War. The pen and brown ink and watercolour on laid paper here is estimated at £800-1200. View the catalogue entry for this George Beck watercolour.
4. Fashionable caricature
Fashionable Amusements for Young Ladies, a pen and ink and watercolour by George ‘Moutard’ Woodward (1760-1809) is part of a group of nine works by the caricaturist and humorist offered as a single lot and estimated £1000-1500 at Olympia Auctions. Woodward was born in Derbyshire and came to London in around 1791 to 1792 where he achieved popularity with his social satires which were engraved by other such artists including Isaac Cruikshank. View the full catalogue entry.
5. The Kyiv skyline
Among the most interesting lots from the Iolo Williams collection is a depiction of the Great Lavra Belltower of the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves (that can still be seen today) attributed to Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842). The bell tower was the highest free-standing bell tower at the time of its construction and is still one of the most impressive buildings of the Kyiv skyline. Porter was a Scottish artist who was appointed historical painter at the court of Tsar Alexander I of Russia in 1805, and was commissioned to paint the Admiralty Hall in St Petersburg with vast historical paintings. The picture, a pen and ink and watercolour on two sheets, is offered in a lot with nine further topographical views which is estimated at £600-800. View the full catalogue entry.
View the full catalogue for the Iolo Williams collection at Olympia Auctions
