Sir Stanley Spencer's Hilda and I at Pond Street, dating from 1954, sold for £1,430,050. (click on image to enlarge)
There was a new auction record for a work by Sir Stanley Spencer at Sotheby’s in London on December 15. Hilda and I at Pond Street, dating from 1954, sold for £1,430,050 ($2,249,612), far in excess of its pre-sale estimate of £400,000-600,000. James Rawlin, senior director in 20th century British art at Sotheby’s, said the result helps establish Spencer as one of the central figures of figurative art in Britain in the 20th century.
Works by Frank Auerbach, Dame Barbara Hepworth, L.S. Lowry, Christopher Wood and Lynn Chadwick also performed well in the sale of 20th century British art. It realised a total of £8,255,625. Sotheby’s pointed out that there is a higher price in US dollars for a work by Spencer. His Christ Preaching at Cookham Regatta; Listening from Punts made £1,237,600 / $2,270,852 in June 2004.
