Welcome | Bienvenue | 歡迎 |
Historic Highlights
Events Calendar

Early British Drawings, Watercolours & Portrait Miniatures

Overview

Sotheby's Department of British Drawings, Watercolours and Portrait Miniatures covers an important range of artists dating from the 'Golden Age of British Watercolours' (generally the period from 1750 to the mid 19th Century) up until the late 19th Century Victorian period. These sales also incorporate British and Continental Portrait Miniatures ranging from the Tudor and Stuart era to the Victorian times.

The sales regularly include works by internationally sought after artists such as Gainsborough, Turner and Constable as well as important Victorian artists such as Helen Allingham and Henry John Sylvester Stannard. The portrait miniature and pastel section of the sales often contain works by Isaac Oliver, Richard Cosway and John Smart, amongst many other talented portrait artists.
Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, 7 July 2010, London

Old Master & British Paintings Evening Sale, 7 July 2010, London

We invite you to watch the Private View video featuring J.M.W. Turner's great masterpiece Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino, estimated at £12-18 million, to be sold on 7 July.

In memory of Henry Wemyss by the British Watercolour Department at Sotheby's

In memory of Henry Wemyss by the British Watercolour Department at Sotheby's

Henry Wemyss was Head of the British Watercolour department at Sotheby’s from 1983 until illness forced him to retire in 2009. This remarkably long record gave him an unparalleled position of respect and affection in the art world. Watercolours, for so long the backbone of cultivated English collecting were eclipsed by modernism during his period of office. Henry saw the end of the gentleman-amateur collector and the rise of international collecting interest, particularly in Turner. The old style collectors, who admired his deep knowledge and understanding of the medium, asked him to handle their sales, while the new world was drawn in by his passion. In a world as small and dedicated as British watercolours Henry Wemyss formed close friendships with the scholars, collectors ...