Railway paintings at railwayana auctions 2011-15

When one of the glossy railway magazines featured an article recently about the knock-down prices of many second hand railway books, I was sufficiently moved to suggest to them that other railway related bits and pieces may end up in a similar situation in years to come. Can we confidently predict that future generations will view the objects of our desire with the same affection as the current cohort of devotees does, and be prepared to splash out on them in quite the same way as we are?

And another thing [I was on a roll, by then], was that it seemed to me that one area that might be better equipped than most to resist the possibility of plummeting prices in the future might be quality art work. The “glossy” in question was at least consistent, if not dismissive, in ignoring my contribution to the discussion.

Top quality steam railway art is still being produced today by those who were there to witness the steam era “live” with all its trappings. As well as frequently being art of a technically high calibre, it is also helping to build up an exceptional visual record of how the railway once was. It is being fashioned by those with a real feel and affection for their subject matter, emanating from their own very personal experiences.

Pictorial memories of the 50s and 60s are in good hands. Many of the artists are household names for steam enthusiasts. They provide us with wonderful reminders of our youth and successfully communicate the atmosphere of it all in a way that should also stand the test of time.

The on-going relationship between original art work and the railwayana scene is also fascinating. Given that the nature of the railwayana auction set-up is itself fairly fluid and that not all records of past auctions are available for retrospective perusal on the internet, there is still enough information out there for some trends to become evident. In addition to those included in the brief summary below, there are many other excellent railway artists, some of whom are affiliated to the Guild of Railway Artists, whose work has not cropped up at all at the main railwayana auctions during the last five years.    

The provisos for my own investigations were: original paintings rather than prints, only railway scenes to be included, no original art work intended for secondary purposes like advertising material, no information from side auctions and postal auctions and no data from auction houses that do not specialise solely in railwayana. Some lots that come to auction remain unsold as shown on the auction houses’ own websites when posted after the events, so, naturally, they are not included in the figures either. Further railway paintings may also, of course, have been sold at other fine art or general auctions during the same time period.

Results from the last two “Sheffield at Derbys,” as well as from Bristol, Solent, Talisman, GCRA, GWRA, Stafford, GNRA, railwayana.net and Crewe were included. The information was from auctions held between 2011 and 2015 inclusive. All the information included was accessible in the auction houses’ own on-line archives.

1. From 2011 to 2015, the number of original railway paintings sold at the main live and internet railwayana auctions increased dramatically:

                 2011 - 32, 2012 - 41, 2013 - 61, 2014 - 88, 2015 - 105.

2. From 2011 to 2015, an increasing number of railway artists had their work auctioned at these sales:

                 2011 - 25, 2012 - 20, 2013 - 27, 2014 - 34, 2015 - 42.

3. From 2011 to 2015, the number of individual specialist railwayana auction events selling paintings markedly increased:

                 2011 – 7, 2012 – 10, 2013 – 13, 2014 – 19, 2015 – 18. 

4. From 2011 to 2015, the number of artists whose work topped the £1,000 hammer price at specialist railwayana auctions increased. The artists concerned were:

                 2011 – 3 paintings by Heiron [2], Broom,

                 2012 – 3 paintings by Bottomley, Hawkins, Broom,

                 2013 – 8 paintings by Broom [2], Breckon [2], Heiron, Root, Price, Freeman,

                 2014 – 7 paintings by Root [3], Elford, Breckon, Freeman, Hawkins,

                 2015 – 11 paintings by Breckon [3], Hawkins [2], Root [2], Beech, Ellis,      

                                                      Elford, Price.

5. From 2011 to 2015, four specialist railwayana auction houses sold paintings for £1,000 or more:

                 GCRA – 21, GWRA – 9, SRA at Derby – 1, GNRA – 1.

One artist, Joe Townend, has been both extraordinarily prolific and particularly successful at notching up sales in the last few years and at a number of different railwayana auction houses. They were mostly oil on canvas, unframed and presented on stretchers.  

That the trend is upwards, there can be no doubt, but what of the next five years and thereafter? Who can pick out the big sellers of the future amongst the more modestly priced paintings coming to auction today? Are there any more potentially big names already out there amongst the post-war train spotters’ generation? Which younger artists will emerge, those who have perhaps developed their skills more recently on the heritage railways? I’m looking forward to seeing if the recent rise in interest will be maintained and finding out who will come to the fore.

[This article first appeared in the Railway Antiques Gazette, so thanks are due again to the editor Tim Petchey. My photograph of the painting is included with thanks to the artist, Barry Price.]