HENRY SCOTT TUKE PAINTING OF A SLEEPING SAILOR TO SELL AT BONHAMS
A beautiful picture by the prolific British maritime and figurative painter, Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929), entitled Sleeping Sailor, is to be sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of The Marine Sale on 22 March 2011. Initially sold for £15 to Arthur Taylor, it has now attracted a pre-sale estimate of £30,000 – 50,000.
Sleeping Sailor was painted on board a derelict French barque, Mazatlan, which Tuke used as a temporary floating studio during the summer of 1905. His model, shown posing on the boom, was called Harry Cleave. In an excerpt from his diary on 16 May 2005, Tuke writes: “Another brilliant day. Harry on the mizzen boom.”
Born in York in 1858, Henry Scott Tuke and his family moved to Falmouth in 1859. Later, he moved to Newlyn, Cornwall, where he became part of the Newlyn School of painters. He is best-known for his pictures of nude boys and young men. This picture was exhibited at Falmouth Art Gallery in 1905.
Bonhams
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com
