Andy Garth: Paintings, Prints and Photos

This week I have bought, sold and failed to sell lots of items at various auctions in the city, and am perplexed about the trends that exist in my chosen field of all stuff Brighton & Hove.

So the first item is very personal to me as it is the Palace Pier by Matt Bruce, who as well as being a great local and nationally renowned artist taught me and thousands of others art at the old Varndean Grammar School for boys.

I paid £65 for it at an auction in deepest darkest Surrey – in my view a great deal – which adorns a wall at home, which is unusual as I don’t tend to mix home with work (or that’s what I’m told by my partner!).

The second picture is one of the hundreds of framed old postcard photos you see all over the city in shops and restaurants, and also probably in a large amount of homes.

They are always full of excellent information from the past

The problem with these is they are just not popular at auctions anymore, and if sold are very cheap – which is such a shame as they are always full of excellent information from the past.

The third photo is an example of a local Brighton print, of which there are several thousand dating from the late 18th century through Victorian times. They were ultimately replaced by photos, and again the interest level in these has dropped.

Maybe, like pine furniture and open fireplaces they may come back into fashion, so look after any you have (and there are some expensive ones out there!).

Any questions Brightonandhovestuff@gmail.com