Lucian Freud's works star in Bloomsbury auction

Bloomsbury Auctions' recent sale of prints had a clear star in the form of Lucian Freud. Three of his etchings beat their expected prices:

Freud's 2004 work Girl with Fuzzy Hair beat its valuation of £10,000-15,000, going under the hammer for £15,500, whilst the simply titled Portrait Head, depicting a thin-faced man with deep-set eyes and thick eyebrows, beat a similar estimate to sell for £18,000 (excluding buyer's premium).

Beating both of these, however was a 2006 etching The Painter's Doctor presenting a long-nosed bespectacled man in a white coat hunched forward with his brow furrowed. Intrigued bidders pushed the lot past its top estimate of £15,000 to £20,000.

Lucian Freud Painter's Doctor
Freud's Painter's Doctor
(Click to enlarge)

Of the two Rego pieces we looked at, Come to Me is still yet to sell, but the colourful yet dour Getting Ready for the Ball impressed and was snapped up for £6,000. Likewise Matisse's lithograph of a reposing model sold for £8,000 to a happy bidder.

Matisse Le Repos Du Modele
Matisse's lithograph Le Repos Du Modele
(Click to enlarge)

Warhol had a look-in as well, with his Geronimo, a silkscreen from the Cowboys and Indians series, selling for £7,000.

The top lot however was, as expected, another Freud. The 2003 etching Painter's Garden was sold quite quickly within its estimate at £30,000. Freud's work continues to fascinate, and may be regarded as a good investment.

 

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