Art collection sells for £50,000 at Shrewsbury-based Halls' online auction

The remaining works collected by the late Magdi Latif Obeid are now on offer as part of a second timed, online auction of modern and contemporary art which began last Friday and runs until October 31.

The auctions are being conducted by Shrewsbury-based Halls, a leading regional fine art auction house whose art specialist, Abigail Molenaar, is delighted with the results and interested generated.

“There was strong bidding across the board in the first auction, proving that new technology and online sales can be positive avenues to sell more traditional style paintings and achieve strong results,” she said. “Prices were very encouraging even in areas which, in recent years, have not been as buoyant, such as watercolour and 19th century landscapes. Buyers were looking for items in good condition by reputable names.”

Top price was secured by ‘Morning near Robin Hood Bay’, an oil on canvas by Owen Bowen, which sailed over its estimate to achieve £2,050.

The same artist’s charming depiction of ‘The Hay Field near Robin Hood Bay’, another oil on canvas, sold for £1,350. Five paintings by Bowen sold for a combined total of £4,490.

Another highlight was a classic Gyrth Russell oil painting of ‘Shipping in a Harbour’ which achieved £1,200 and a watercolour by the ever-popular marine artist William Lionel Wyllie, titled ‘Twilight and a Failing Wind’, sold for £1,350.

“The preservation of the colours and beautiful reflection of light on the surface of the water captured by Wyllie helped it attract many admirers,” added Abigail.

Mr Obeid, who died in 2021, was a distinguished consultant general and vascular surgeon whose passion for art led him to compile a significant collection which he began in the 1980s.

He was born in Khartoum, to Egyptian parents, and spent most of his career working in the West Midlands, including Birmingham Children’s Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth and Dudley Road Hospitals, becoming a prominent specialist vascular surgeon.

“It is always such a pleasure to handle a collection like this, one that has been put together from a sheer love of art and of collecting,” added Abgail. “Mr Obeid was a person who bought what he liked, sought out artists that he admired and brought together a really diverse and impressive collection.”

Potential stars of the modern and contemporary art auction are a portrait of Patricia Mumford (1935-2021) by Alan Lowndes, which is valued at £3,000 to £5,000, an acrylic on coated steel by Duncan Zhivago, born 1980, titled ‘Steet, 2014’, which is valued at £2,000 to £4,000 and an oil on board by Geoffrey Woolsey Birks (1929-‘93) titled ‘Out of Town’ and valued at £2,000 to £3,000.

To view and bid for works visit fineart.hallsgb.com/forthcoming-auctions.