A painting by the Syrian artist Louay Kayyali is the highlight of the Fine Art sale at the Lincoln auction rooms.
The portrait of Jacqueline van den Brandeler (nee. Merrier) was commissioned by her husband Jonkheer D. van den Brandeler while he was the Dutch Ambassador in Syria. The oil on canvas is expected to sell for between £15,000 and £20,000 when it goes under the hammer in the sale at Golding Young & Mawer on September 26 at 7pm.
Auctioneer William Gregory said: "This picture, which was consigned to auction by a relative of the sitter, is a stunning example of portraiture work by a gifted, but tragically troubled, artist. "As the picture is by an internationally collected artist and has such an excellent provenance, it will be interesting to see where the bids come from on sale day." Born in Syria in 1935, Louay Kayyali began studying painting at the age of 11 and by 18 he had his first exhibition at Al-Tajhis Al-Oula School. He was granted a scholarship in 1956 by the Ministry of Education to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome.
In 1961, he graduated from the Department of Decoration of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and returned to Syria to teach art at schools in Damascus. He later returned to Rome to continue his teaching career. By 1966 he developed psychological problems and began painting a series a charcoal works depicting torture and the struggle of man. His exhibition 'For the Sake of Cause' at the Damascus Arab Cultural Centre in 1967 later travelled throughout Syria and received mixed reviews and personal criticism from other artists. He later destroyed all the works from this exhibition and stopped painting. After receiving medical treatment in 1969, he returned to teaching briefly but stopped again after his father passed away a year later. In 1973 he began painting again and a year later organised an exhibition at the People's Hall for Fine Arts in Damascus. President of the Association for Fine Arts Mamdouh Kashlan wrote a book on his work and he began to exhibit internationally.
At his next exhibition, all 42 paintings were sold before the opening day and his work was collectedby the National Museum of Aleppo. In September1978, Kayyali died from burns received after his bed caught fire from a dropped cigarette. Among the other 248 paintings in the sale, there is a black felt tip pen sketch of four figures by Lowry (1887-1976) with an estimate of between £6,000 and £8,000. The artwork bears a Christie's label on the reverse and has a letter of authenticity dated 2006 from The Lowry Art Gallery signed by Head of Galleries LindsayBrooks. There is also a signed watercolour by John Piper (1903-1992) titled 'Church within
trees' which is estimated to sell for between £2,000 and £3,000 and a signed oil on canvas by the Cornish artist Ben Maile (b. 1922) titled 'The Old Crusader' which has an estimate of £400 to £600.
A painting of Nottingham's King Street by the well-known city artist Arthur Spooner is estimated to sell for between £500 and £800. The sale also includes 44 paintings, from portraits to 19th century oils and other works, from the collection of Lincoln man Arnold 'Bill' Beresford. Mr Beresford was considered a 'collecting connoisseur', always buying the best he could afford, and items from his estate have been sold at the last two sales at Golding Young & Mawer. Among Mr Beresford's collection are two signed watercolours by the artist Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1793-1808) titled 'Portrait of a young woman in a blue dress facing left' and 'Portrait of a young woman in a pink dress facing right'. Each painting is dated 1771 and is estimated to sell for between £800 and £1,200. Meanwhile, a series of works by Lincolnshire artists will also be featured in the sale. There are 10 watercolours by the artist Sir James Braithwaite Peile (1836-1906) depicting scenes of Boston, Horncastle, Lincoln, Tattershall and Coningsby on Bain.
Peile's painting titled 'St Botolph, Boston' is signed and dated September 15, 1896, and is expected to sell for between £200 and £300. Another work, painted two days later on September 17, 1896, is titled 'High Street, Lincoln' and carries the same estimate. Among four paintings by the travelling artist Fred Thurlby showing championship cattle and horses at agricultural shows in Grantham and Lincolnshire, there is an oil on canvas titled 'Ponton Pioneer (38543), signed and dated 1926, which is expected to sell for between £300 and £500.
There are also three paintings by Grimsby artist Herbert Rollett (1872-1932), including a signed oil on board titled 'Lincolnshire landscape' with an estimate of between £200 and £300, and three works by the Lincoln artist Antonin (Tony) Bartl (1912-1996) including a signed oil on canvas titled 'Female form' which is expected to sell for between £500 and £800. Three signed limited edition prints by the Grimsby artist Vincent Haddersley titled 'Horse and Carriage', 'The Hunt' and 'The Horse Race each have an estimate of £50 to £80, and a glazed dish with multi-fired decoration by the ceramic artist Peter Moss (b.1940) has an estimate of between £80 to £120. An acrylic by the Lincoln painter, illustrator and lecturer Roy Ridsdale (b. 1942) titled 'Male life study' is expected to sell for between £50 and £100.
