LCF law advises on sale of art collection

The art collection was owned by the late Cyril Reddihough, a former senior partner in Last & Reddihough, a predecessor to LCF Law, which was based in Bradford and Ilkley, who passed away in 2001.

It included paintings and sculptures by key figures in British Modernist art, as well as his lifelong friend and abstract artist Ben Nicholson, whom 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 £2m but achieved £3.7m.

The top lot was Henry Moore’s ‘Reclining Figure’ which dates back to 1945 and sold for £1.55m.

Ann Christian, partner at LCF Law, said: “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.”