London – This Summer, Christie’s London will unveil a stellar selection of artworks formerly in the outstanding private collection of the late Edgar Astaire, which will be offered across four sales at Christie’s in June and July 2015.
The group comprises works by revered 20th century British artists, including Mark Gertler, Augustus John, David Bomberg, William Roberts and C.R.W. Nevinson, who all attended the Slade School of Art. Never before seen together in public, the collection provides an evocative window through which viewers can step ‘back in time’ to the hub of creativity surrounding the Slade.
The collection also includes works by Alfred Munnings, David Hockney, Noël Coward, John Piper, Graham Sutherland and Edward Lear. The four sales will provide a rich array of opportunities for new and established collectors alike to acquire works at a wide range of price levels, with estimates starting from £3,000 up to £400,000.
André Zlattinger, Senior Director, Head of Modern British Art, Christie’s London: “Christie’s is honoured to be handling this important and remarkable collection of paintings and drawings brought together by Edgar Astaire, who combined his passion for the aesthetic of the Slade School and British art with the discerning eye of the connoisseur collector. It is the art of this era, celebrating the arrival of Modernism through its depiction of portraiture, from the monumentality of ‘Carrington’ and ‘The Violinist’ to the draftsmanship of Gertler’s drawings that are testament to the current market’s reappraisal of these artists as some of the most important of the twentieth century.”
