Post-war British art features in landmark sale

A selection of 20 works from the collection of renowned collector David Thomson will be offered as a prelude to Sotheby’s Modern and Post-War British Art Sale on December 10 2013.

Abstraction: Post-War Painting from the David Thomsom Collection brings together major works by Alan Davie, Patrick Heron, Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton and William Scott. Together they represent the best group of post-war British abstract art ever to come to market.

In presenting ‘Abstraction’ at this moment in time, David Thomson and Sotheby’s hope to restore to these artists the international standing they enjoyed back in the 1950s and 60s when their works were the latest word in contemporary art.

“A gradual but marked renewal of interest in these five artists over the past few years has been evident, yet deeper appreciation lies ahead,” said David Thomson. “The five artists form an interlocked community of aesthetics. They share an expressive power and inherent sensibility towards light and atmosphere.

“A collection needs to evolve and seek further dimension through release and acquisition. The movement of these works from out collection is the result of articulation or refinement after years of communion with the objects.”

Speaking about the forthcoming sale, Frances Christie, head of Sotheby’s Modern and Post-War British Art Department, said: “It is a dream scenario to collaborate with a collector as discerning and knowledgeable as David Thomson, whose approach to selecting art across a variety of categories has resulted in a collection that is among the very greatest of our time.”