David Bomberg, William Roberts and Henry Moore Lead Sotheby’s Mod Brit Sale

This is David Bomberg’s At the Window (1919) from the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum is being sold to benefit the museum, its research and philanthropic enterprises. It is among the range of lots by Barbara Hepworth, Lynn Chadwick and Winston Churchill on offer in the November 20th Modern British art sale that includes:

• A maquette of Henry Moore’s seminal Family Group – representing the zenith of the sculptor’s lifelong obsession with the universal motif of parenthood – making its auction debut, having formerly been in the collection of MoMA until 1980.
• A vivid picture of the heady Bohemian London nightlife by William Roberts, appearing at auction for the first time since it was acquired by the grandfather of the present owner from the artist’s very first solo exhibition. 
• Unseen in public for well over half a century, Peter Blake’s Strong Man, 1, an early work exploring his fascination with the popular English pastime of the circus, in all its faded glory.
• A rare painting of Germany by Sir Winston Churchill, painted by Britain’s most famous prime minister when he visited the Rhine in 1932, a mere six months before Hitler took power. 
• Paintings by David Bomberg from the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, sold to fund acquisitions, the Ben Uri Research Unit and the expansion of the Ben Uri Arts and Dementia Institute, including David Bomberg, At the Window, oil on canvas, 1919 (est. £500,000- 800,000) David Bomberg, English Woman, 1920, oil on canvas laid on board (est. £300,000-500,000) David Bomberg, The Broken Aqueduct, Wadi Kelt near Jericho, 1926, oil on canvas (est. £120,000-180,000) Bomberg arrived in Palestine in 1923 and remained for four years.
• The miniature prototype for Barbara Hepworth’s Winged Figure, which adorns John Lewis’ flagship store.
• A rare watercolour by L.S. Lowry gifted by the artist to his tutor Percy Warburton, after Lowry borrowed a box of watercolours from his daughter to try them out.
• A monumental canvas by Gillian Ayres, one of Britain’s most significant abstract painters, who stands alongside American contemporaries Joan Mitchell and Helen Frankenthaler.