There seems to be an an increased presence for Henry Moore in auctions in New York and London. A rising tide in prices seems to be accompanying that rise too. Recent sales in London caught Colin Gleadell’s eye and he explains a little bit of what was going on in the market for the artist’s drawings:
Drawings by Henry Moore were among the most sought-after at the sales. At Sotheby’s, a 1948 drawing of figures in a modernist architectural setting incorporated references to the architecture of F R S Yorke, who gave Moore his first large architectural commission and was the drawing’s first owner, and the figures in Moore’s seminal Three Standing Figures bronze, made for Battersea Park in 1947. After spirited bidding by sculpture dealer Daniel Katz, it was bought by the Henry Moore Foundation well above estimate for £481,250. The foundation plans to exhibit the drawing next year alongside a maquette for the Battersea sculpture. At Bonhams the next day, a new record for a Moore drawing was set when Richard Green bought a wartime drawing of a seated mother and child taking shelter in the London Underground for £634,250, again far above the estimate.
Lowry Dominates British Sales Landscape (Telegraph)