Rare Gaudier-Brezeska Painting Achieves £40,000

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At Olympia Auctions Fine Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture Auction

Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's painting (left) and the original statue (right)

June 25, 2023

The Fine Paintings, Works on Paper & Sculpture Auction of 55 lots was an exhilarating journey through art history featuring works from its leading lights. The numerous temptations for eager bidders along the way resulted in many high prices.

The top lot of the auction was ‘The Madonna of ‘The Miracle’ with selfportrait’, pictured above, a rare oil painting by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, selling at £40,000 (estimate of £15,000 - £20,000) to British trade. There was international interest in the picture, with one of the under bidders being a French institution. This was the fourth highest price of
a picture (painting and work on paper) by the artist to be sold at auction, and the highest price for a non-Vorticist work by him.

Adrian Biddell comments “A very well attended view and much interest online resulted in a well scrutinised sale by discerning clients old and new. I am particularly pleased that the Gaudier-Brzeska achieved such a strong price. It is a very rare oil, its composition so typically idiosyncratic – one of his sculptures with his self-portrait glimpsed from behind it.

"It also has specific links to West London: its source of inspiration was a production at Olympia Exhibition Halls, it resided for many years on Chiswick Mall, home of one of Gaudier’s early patrons, and has more recently been in a private collection in Kew. Now it has returned to Olympia (Auctions). It has been very satisfying to relaunch this extraordinary painting by such a precocious artist-genius onto the market once again.