Historic Keith Hall paintings expected to fetch more than £50,000 at London auction
Artwork from a historic Aberdeenshire building could fetch more than £50,000 when it goes under the hammer at one of the world’s largest auctioneers later this month.
The 28 works by the 19th Century Danish artist Niels Simonsen, were collected by Captain Hans Rosenfeldt, a Danish businessman with interests in the Philipines and Singapore.
For more than 20 years he spent many festive seasons at the Tower House, Keith Hall, Inverurie, with his family.
The collection, depicting military scenes and places in North Africa, was bought specifically to be displayed at the Tower House.
It will be auctioned at Bonham’s in Edinburgh on Thursday, February 16.
Professor Simonson, who died in 1885, specialised in military paintings – some of his large-scale battleworks hang in major Danish musuems – and in portrayals of the people and places of North Africa.
Many of the pictures in the Rosenfeldt collection combine these two themes and among the highlights are “Defending a hill fortification, Morocco”, which is estimated to be worth £10,000 – £15,000.
Other highlights include a piece called “An encampment with figure smoking a pipe”, worth between £5,000 and £7,000, and “View of Algier from the hills above”, which is expected to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000.
Bonham’s, founded in 1793, are leading auctioneers of fine art and antiques. A spokesman said the Keith Hall paintings’ unusual qualities would attract buyers.
