The British Are Going . . .

[intro] . . . . on the Block[/intro]

Sotheby’s is selling Dickie Attenborough’s pictures. At least, they’re selling 50 of them, including works by Henry Moore, Ivor Hitchens, Ben Nicholson, Christopher Nevinson, Graham Sutherland and Christopher Wood. The whole mess is hoped to bring in £2m when it sells in November:

Richard Attenborough said his west London house was so overstuffed with art that it was time to sell. “Sixty years ago my wife, Sheila, and I bought the house we live in to this day,” he said. “We could not afford carpets or curtains, but more importantly for us we had a few pictures for our walls.

“Today, this passion has led us to the position of possessing more paintings than those walls can contain. Now is the moment for us to pass on these ravishing images for others to treasure and enjoy.”