WILLIAM TROOD PAINTINGS SHINE AT BONHAMS AUCTION DOGS IN SHOW & FIELD: THE FINE ART SALE MAKES $1.2MILLION
Two paintings by the famed canine artist William Henry Hamilton Trood (1860-1899) were the top-selling lots of ‘Dogs in Show & Field: The Fine Art Sale’ yesterday (15th February 2012) at Bonhams New York saleroom.
Sam Travers of Bonhams 19th Century Pictures department comments, “We are very pleased with the results of the sale. The Troods were great examples of his work and two of the best to have come on the market for some time and this was recognised by the prices they fetched. The same goes for Reuben Ward Binks’ works which also sold particularly well.”
In Hounds in a kennel the artist captures the individual characters of the hounds and the composition cleverly draws the viewer in past the robin to the kennel. The painting smashed its pre-sale estimate of $60,000-80,000 to sell to a telephone bidder in USA for $212,500. A second work by Trood, entitled Déjeuner shows a sentimental scene of puppies gathered round a bowl, enthusiastically lapping up milk whilst being watched by ducklings, chicks and a cat. Its scale and quality mark it as being one of the finest paintings by the artist to come to auction and it attracted several bidders before more than doubling its pre-sale estimate of $50,000-70,000) to sell for $194,500.
Paintings by leading artists were highly sought after and the auction saw many works sell for prices far exceeding their estimates. Other good prices were achieved for works by John Emms (Hounds at Rest, $80,500), Percival Leonard Rosseau (English Setter on point, $74,500 and Three hunting dogs stalking game, $37,500) and Arthur Wardle (Pointers on a moor, $42,500).
A collection of works by Reuben Ward Binks, an artist from Bolton who painted for many members of the Royal Family including King Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI, sold for a total of $76,000. The top lot from the collection was English Setter and Pointer which fetched $12,500.
