A TREASURE trove of royally-approved artwork found in a lock-up garage after 17 years is expected to raise an “unlimited” fortune.
Shockwaves have been sent through the global art world after the discovery of 68 paintings by late Brit abstract star Sharon Gee – dubbed “the female Picasso”.
Among fans of her unique style was The Queen Mother, who requested one of her Impressionist-style daubs ‘White Lace’ for the private Royal Collection.
The artist’s known paintings are held by individual collectors and corporate institutions including the Rugby Football Union, who hung her bright red ‘The Rose’ artwork at its Twickenham hub.
She was lauded in dozens of gushing reviews in respected publications including The Sunday Times Culture magazine and leading art periodical, ARTnews.
In 2019, at an exhibition of her ‘last few paintings’, art historian Simone Sinsley – also critic and professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago – said: “The simple, direct vision of this artist should surprise and delight both the general public and collectors alike.”
The respected Chicago gallery also compared her to modern art master Pablo Picasso for her diverse style and refusal to reproduce popular works.
Now the art world is abuzz with talk of the “priceless” cachet of Sharon Gee paintings found in an abandoned garage in East Finchley, North London.
The painter’s grief-stricken partner is understood to have abandoned her unseen work after her sudden death from a brain tumour in 2004.
And they only came to light last month when a row of lock-up garages was being demolished to make way for a new residential block.
Stunned Peter Hannam, who runs Hannams Auctioneers based in Selborne, Hants., told The Sun: “The pictures have been bagged in a lock-up – slipped between bits of cardboard – since the artist died.
“It was too painful for the owner to do anything else.
“The people who own the building want to turn it into residential homes. Now all this incredible artwork had come out of the woodwork, almost literally.
“It’s a treasure trove of art by a highly esteemed artist who tragically died just as her career was taking off. We were lucky to get the call after the discovery was made.
“Now 17 years later, Sharon Gee’s name is still remembered and there is considerable interest in the global art picture market at this cachet of one-off abstracts.
“We have had calls from America and Canada, and interest in the Far East, where her work sold well when the artist was alive.
“This is very unusual and exciting; the paintings even have royal assent.
“We did previously have a vase found by a demolition firm in a slightly similar situation, and that went for half a million pounds. The paintings will do well.”
Kent-born Sharon Gee was a patron of the international arts project Young Masters of Arts before her tragic death aged 43.
The self-taught artist’s career took off just before her brain tumour took hold and she was known for “employing design in its simplest form” across landscapes, monochromatic paintings and still lifes.
A 2000 article, under the headline ‘The Queen Mother’s Artist’, told how the veteran royal hung Sharon’s oil painting in a sitting room in Clarence House for her guests to admire.
Sir Alastair Aird, former private secretary to Her Majesty, said: “Indeed the Queen Mother remembers the painting arriving and was very excited when she saw it. She is very appreciative and is absolutely delighted with it.”
Sharon said of her royal commendation: “When I heard she had expressed an interest in my work I was really touched.”
One of the artist’s most treasured possessions was a 1998 letter from Clarence House thanking her for her painting.
Another letter, from the Queen Mother’s Lady-in-Waiting, wished her well ahead of an exhibition in the US.
Two years before her death, 20 of Sharon’s works appeared in an exhibition in Tennessee, US, alongside the works of the great 18th Century painter Thomas Gainsborough and Alice in Wonderland creator Lewis Carroll.
An online auction of Sharon Gee’s lost work is live and viewings are open to the public at Hannams Auctioneers based in Selborne, Hants from Tuesday.
