Investors in their thirties and forties are pushing up the prices of lesser known 20th century British artists. At a recent Cheffins auction in Cambridge a painting by Winifred Nicholson, a colourist who died in 1981, sold for £44,000 — more than twice its estimate. Brett Tryner, a valuer at the auction house, says: “In the past we have looked to Europe for contemporary art investment, to Picasso, Monet and Renoir. Apart from a few artists such as Barbara Hepworth or David Hockney, British artists have been relatively neglected. Now we are getting more people who want to invest in paintings. Modern art appeals to them, but they can’t afford a Hepworth. They have £2,000 or £5,000 so they are spending it on other contemporary
Prices of lesser-known 20th century British art is rising as younger collectors who can't afford a David Hockney look for alternatives. Artists involved in the Victoria & Albert Museum's Recording Britain exhibition, including Enid Marx, are among those seeing their stock rise. “In 2016, we sold a lithograph by Enid Marx for £4,400 ($858)," said Brett Tryner of auctioneers Cheffins in Cambridge. "Last year an identical one from the same series sold for £650."