Member Article

LCF Law Advises On Multimillion Pound Art Collection

YORKSHIRE based LCF Law is advising on the sale of one of the region’s finest art collections that has already raised £3.7 million and was owned by the late Cyril Reddihough, who was a partner in a predecessor firm to LCF Law.

Mr Reddihough was a former Senior Partner at Last & Reddihough, which was a well-established Bradford and Ilkley firm of solicitors. The firm later evolved into Last Cawthra Feather, which rebranded to LCF Law in 2014.

He passed away in 2001 after building up an impressive art collection which included paintings and sculptures by key figures in British Modernist art, as well as his lifelong friend and internationally acclaimed abstract artist Ben Nicholson, who he first met in 1927. Other works in the collection are by Nicholson’s first wife Winifred, his second wife, Dame Barbara Hepworth, as well as Henry Moore, Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis and Mary Newcomb.

LCF Law has been appointed to advise on the inheritance tax surrounding the collection, following the death of his widow. Part of the collection has recently been auctioned at Bonhams in London, which sold 42 paintings and sculptures from the estate. The works were expected to sell for approximately £2 million but achieved £3.7 million.

The top lot of the sale was Henry Moore’s ‘Reclining Figure’ which dates back to 1945 and sold for £1.55 million. Another highlight was Nicholson’s ‘Pill Creek’ which sold for £600,000.

Ann Christian is a partner in LCF Law’s Personal Law team, which offers a wide range of services including wealth protection, inheritance planning, wills and probate. She explains: “The collection that Cyril Reddihough assembled during his lifetime is truly amazing and demonstrates his ability to identify art that would eventually become extremely desirable, at a time when some of Nicholson’s work wasn’t always being well-received by the wider public.

“It’s an honour to be involved with his work, especially because of his past links to LCF Law and I’m delighted that the collection has been so popular with art enthusiasts from across the world.”

Bonhams director of Modern British and Irish Art, Matthew Bradbury said: “The astonishing total for this landmark collection is testimony to Cyril Reddihough’s great taste. His patronage of Ben Nicholson provided the artist with the security he needed to develop his ideas and was crucial to the emergence of the most distinctive and influential voice in British Modernism.”

LCF Law is a leading commercial law firm that works with both businesses and private individuals. The long-established firm employs more than 130 people across offices in Leeds, Bradford, Harrogate and Ilkley and has a specialist Art Division.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steven Wright .