A painting by renowned Suffolk artist Sir Cedric Morris is set to be sold months after another of his works broke auction records.
In the wake of the recent sale, which saw one of his paintings fetch £204,160, another piece by the British avant-garde painter, is scheduled for sale.
The painting, named Gypsy Queen Caravans in a Sussex Meadow, measures 46 x 59cm, and is an early oil on canvas from 1927, painted by Morris for his own pleasure.
It is estimated to fetch between £15,000 - £20,000 when it appears at Sworders’ Modern British and 20th Century Art Live Online auction on June 10.
The painting is dedicated to the current vendor’s mother Phyllis Pitcairn Gage-Brown who was a childhood friend of Paul Odo Cross, the son of an American heiress and a close friend of Cedric at that time.
A short message is written in the bottom right hand corner of the painting - “to Phyllis from Cedric 1927”.
According to the vendor, Gage-Brown owned one of the caravans that appear in the picture and Odo Cross, who was known by the nickname Bud, the other.
At the time the picture was painted, Morris was working from a studio at Great Ormond Street and had joined the so-called Seven and Five Society of London painters and sculptors. However, two years later he and lifelong partner, Arthur Lett-Haines, chose to move to the country and took the lease on their first Suffolk home in Higham.
In 1937 the couple would found the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, first in Dedham and then at Benton End House.
In October, a ‘lost’ painting by Morris, fetched a huge £204,160 at auction, breaking his previous record by more than £60,000.
Foxgloves, an oil on canvas, went under the hammer in October and was bought be an unnamed London dealer.
The 1932 picture was sold by the family of a friend of Sir Cedric.
The Sworders spokesman said this had made it highly desirable.
“Anything with a flowers theme is very popular in today’s market, but added to that is it was unseen, was completely fresh and in lovely condition,” she said.
“The market was very excited by it, these sort of paintings don’t come up for sale very often.”
Anyone interested in getting involved in the auction should visit Sworder’s website here.
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