Sunny Mediterranean paintings by one of the UK’s best-known landscape artists gain a great deal of interest at Harborough auction

Oil paintings by one of the UK’s best-known landscape artists went for up to £1,500 at a Market Harborough auction – just a year after his work sold for as little as £55.

The works by Norfolk-based Jeremy Barlow were snapped up by enthusiasts around the UK at the Gildings Auctioneers sale just weeks after he died in November.

And prices shot through the roof after three of Barlow’s paintings were sold by Gildings for just £55-£65 in February 2020.

All but one of the paintings in the recent auction depicted sunny Mediterranean scenes.

‘Market Square’ and ‘Belle Epoque’ sold for £1,500 and ‘Continental Street’ went for £1,200.

‘Cottage Window’, ‘Door to the Villa’, ‘Bistro’, ‘The Courtyard’ and ‘Walled Garden’ sold for £950, £900, £800, £700 and £440 respectively.

“It was a pleasure to sell these paintings by Jeremy Barlow. He was best known for his skilful use of light and shadow, which is very much in evidence in these pictures depicting the blue skies and sun-dappled landscapes of southern Europe,” said Gildings director Will Gilding.

“While it is common to see a ‘bounce’ in prices in the aftermath of an artist passing away, it was particularly striking on this occasion.

“The last time we offered paintings by Jeremy Barlow to auction was in February 2020, when we sold three of his paintings for between £55 and £65.

“Prior to that we sold two of his paintings for £65 and £340 at a Fine Art auction in September 2019,” added Will.

“None of these paintings were in as good condition as the ones sold this month.

“But nevertheless, the recent prices achieved illustrates the significant rise in demand for paintings by this artist.”

Jeremy Barlow was born in 1945 and studied illustration at Northampton School of Art.

He found inspiration for his art both at home in Holt, north Norfolk, where he was well known for his gallery, Jeremy Barlow Fine Art and on his travels to France, Spain, Italy and Japan.

Barlow was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), with over 200 solo exhibitions to his name.

The highly-regarded artist also exhibited at prestigious venues such as The Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Society of Marine Artists and The Royal Society of British Artists.

“It’s possible that the fact that the pictures we sold this month depict the warmer climes that so many of us miss visiting during the pandemic, could have been a factor in the high prices achieved,” said Will.

“However, in addition to the price hike caused by art speculators in the aftermath of this well-regarded artist’s death, we are seeing increased demand for the post-war British Art market in general.

“This this a trend we expect to see continue into the year ahead.”

The sale took place as an online-only auction.