GIVEN the significant number of paintings by Lavery included in both this week's Christie's sale and that being held by Sotheby's next Thursday, there's likely to be considerable interest in two pictures by the same artist in yet another London auction.
Phillips's sale of modern British and Irish paintings, scheduled for Tuesday, June 4th, contains a particularly handsome example of Lavery's portraiture: a picture of Mrs Arthur Franklin, whose frothy cream lace dress gave the painter an opportunity to demonstrate his dexterity in depicting fabric. This picture carries an estimate of £15,000-£20,000.
The second Lavery included in the Phillips auction was painted on a trip to Wengen, Switzerland in 1912. While the Alps can be seen through large windows, the picture is essentially an interior scene, showing members of the Lavery family, including, as so often, his wife Hazel, daughter, Eileen and step daughter, Alice. Their brilliant coloured clothes stand out against a dark background.
Bought by the present owner's grandfather as a wedding present in the early 1930s, the painting is expected to make £30,000-£35,000. Other Irish pictures in the same auction, which has a total of 130 lots, include works by Daniel O'Neill, George Campbell and William Scott.
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