NEWBURY.- A collection of works by English artist David Rolt (1916 – 1985) will feature in the autumn Interiors sale at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE this October.

Rolt was one of the most sought after English portrait and landscape painters of the 1940s and 1950s. Born in Yorkshire in 1916, Rolt was partially crippled at birth when a forceps delivery damaged his skull. This left him with a lifelong disability in both his right arm and in one of his legs. The handicap would not hinder his rapidly developing artistic talent which secured him a place at the Slade School of Fine Art. In his early twenties Rolt had a relationship with Mel Russell-Cooke who was daughter of the captain of the Titanic, and 18 years his senior. Their relationship continued until Rolt was in his 40s when he met Penelope ‘Minnie’ Bradford, 20 years his junior, and married a week later. The marriage produced two children but sadly ended with divorce 10 years later. Rolt’s landscape paintings, characterised by his use of bold line and colour, can be seen to reflect the emotional climate of his personal life. His works range from idyllic sun-drenched country scenes such as ‘Flowery Landscape’ (Lot 76, Est: £600 - £800) to wintry-bleak windswept trees and harsh rocky landscapes.

Between 1949 and 1957, leading London gallerist Sir Jack Baer staged five exhibitions of Rolt’s work at the Hazlitt Gallery. Baer said of Rolt, ‘Never a flashy painter. He painted with craftsmanship and elegant intelligence’. Rolt also achieved international success, with his first solo exhibition in Cape Town in 1936, and subsequent shows in Istanbul (1966) and New York (1973). His paintings were also shown at the Royal Academy and The New English Art Club.

Best known, perhaps, for his portraits of celebrated figures including the likes of Lord Audley and Winston Churchill, this collection of pictures offers an insight into Rolt’s lifelong dedication to depicting landscapes, both at home and abroad, with work from Istanbul and France, as well as a number of paintings produced in Berkshire and Wiltshire, where the artist spent the last two decades of his life.

Rolt would always return to his preferred subject: trees and ‘treescapes’, in particular the elms in Wiltshire which at the time were threatened by the dreaded Dutch elm disease. A beautiful example of which is ‘Solitary Elm’ (Lot 84, Est: £300 - £500) which demonstrates Rolt’s sensitivity and skill with colour.

Living in Berkshire from 1959 – 1968, first at the Old Rectory, near Peasemore and then at Chieveley Manor, Rolt’s work ‘Poppies at Chieveley Manor’ serves as a charming marker of his time there (Lot 92, Est: £500 - £700). His works ‘Fresdan’ (Lot 83, Est: £200 - £300) and ‘Landscape with Church’ (pictured, Lot 78, Est: £300 - £500) feature in the sale this October and serve as stunning examples of Rolt’s emotional portrayal of the surrounding landscape. He was clearly inspired by the beauty of that part of the UK, as for a time he also lived nearby in Oxford and Wiltshire where he created the ethereal work, ‘Wiltshire Sky’ (pictured, Lot 91, Est: £150 - £200).

A large portion of works by Rolt remain in private hands and have seldom come to market in recent years. The record price paid for a work by Rolt was £13,750 in 2012 for ‘Self Portrait with a black hat’. This portrait came from a personal collection that Rolt left to his family and was among the first of his oil paintings to be offered for sale in many years. The sale at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions this October will provide buyers with an exciting and rare opportunity to acquire some of Rolt’s stunning landscape paintings.