British & Irish Art

Christie's regularly offers British & Irish Art in its two London salerooms, at King Street and South Kensington. We cover paintings, watercolours and sculptures from 1500 to the present day, in a variety of sales, including Old Masters & 19th Century Art, Victorian & British Impressionist Pictures including Drawings and Watercolours, and 20th Century British Art.

The British & Irish department is the longest established team of its kind. With a combined 30 years of specialist experience,.we pride ourselves on having the deepest academic knowledge of our artists, and the keenest business knowledge of our market. Our clients range from UK to the Americas, the Far East and Australia. We move with the market and aim to anticipate every growing trend.

Among Christie's most historically important sales of British & Irish Art was the groundbreaking February 2003 auction of The Forbes Collection of Victorian Pictures & Works of Art, the finest collection of Victorian art to appear at auction in the last 60 years, totaling just under £17 million ($27 million) and setting 65 new world auction records.

Christie’s also holds numerous world auction records for some of the most celebrated artists in the field. In June 2006, our British Drawings department broke the record for a Turner work on paper when The Blue Rigi sold for £5.8 million. More recently, a new world record was set in June 2008 when A J Moore’s Jasmine, consigned by the prestigious Watts Gallery, sold for £1,777,250. That same month, another record was William Scott’s Bowl, Eggs and Lemons which reached £1,071,650.

We look forward to building on these tremendous successes in our forthcoming auctions. Please do not hesitate to contact one our specialists if you are interested in buying or selling in this field.

See also:
VIDEO: Inside Christie’s: Old Master and 19th Century Art
SPECIAL FEATURE: Introduction to the Wood Prince Turners
Other British & Irish Art Articles

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London, King Street