Three previously undiscovered landscape paintings by Stanley Spencer will be offered for sale at Bonhams' 20th Century British and Irish Art auction on May 30.
The paintings are landscapes depicting scenes from Cookham, the village where Spencer was born and spent much of his life.
Two of the works were a gift from Spencer to his older brother Percy. One was a gift to the wife of a close friend. None of these paintings have been exhibited in public before, making this an exciting opportunity for fans of the artist.
The director of Bonhams' 20th century British and Irish Art department, Matthew Bradbury, said of the sale: "It is very rare to find unknown paintings by Sir Stanley Spencer and Bonhams is excited to offer these works in our upcoming sale."
"Cookham Reach and Barley Hill" and "Black Butts" are estimated to sell for £20,000-30,000, while "Bellrope Meadow" could bring £25,000-35,000.
 Hilda with Bluebells sold for £361,250 last summer |
Spencer's works regularly perform well at auction. Last June, his "Workmen in the House" brought £4.74m and "The Bathing Pool, Dogs" achieved £4.18m. Spencer's "Hilda with Bluebells" achieved £361,250 against a pre-sale estimate of £250,000-300,000 at the same Sotheby's sale.
Given these results, it seems likely that the three previously undiscovered paintings at Bonhams will surpass their pre-sale estimates by considerable amounts.
The sale will also feature a number of works by Sir Stanley's younger brother, Gilbert Spencer.
