11th Feb, 2026 11:00
The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector
20
⊕ ROBERT COLQUHOUN (BRITISH 1914-1962)
LOBSTERS
signed R. Colquhoun upper right; oil on panel; 24 x 33.5cm; 9 1/2 x 13 1/4in (34 x 44cm; 13 x 17 1/4in framed)
Provenance: Abbott & Holder, London
Colquhoun studied at the Glasgow School of Art (1933-38) where he met Robert MacBryde, his life partner to be. Invalided out of the War in 1941 he moved to London, where he gained the support of the collector Peter Watson and worked as an ambulance driver. Working alongside MacBryde and with a studio in the same building as Jankel Adler and John Minton, his work was included in Six Scottish Painters at the Lefevre Gallery, followed by further shows at the gallery in 1944 and 1946. He also started teaching and exhibiting at the newly established Anglo-French Art School in St Johns Wood.
Sold for £7,500
LOBSTERS
signed R. Colquhoun upper right; oil on panel; 24 x 33.5cm; 9 1/2 x 13 1/4in (34 x 44cm; 13 x 17 1/4in framed)
Provenance: Abbott & Holder, London
Colquhoun studied at the Glasgow School of Art (1933-38) where he met Robert MacBryde, his life partner to be. Invalided out of the War in 1941 he moved to London, where he gained the support of the collector Peter Watson and worked as an ambulance driver. Working alongside MacBryde and with a studio in the same building as Jankel Adler and John Minton, his work was included in Six Scottish Painters at the Lefevre Gallery, followed by further shows at the gallery in 1944 and 1946. He also started teaching and exhibiting at the newly established Anglo-French Art School in St Johns Wood.
Auction: The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector, 11th Feb, 2026
Auction Location: London, UK
John Russell Taylor was a compulsive collector. When he died at the age of ninety, his two bedroom flat on the corner of Brook Green was floor to ceiling with books and pictures that he had collected over the last seventy years. A precocious talent he was awarded a scholarship to read English at Cambridge aged 16 and graduated with a starred First Class degree. Film, theatre and art critic for The Times for more than four decades, he wrote thousands of articles and reviews for the newspaper. He also wrote over sixty books – critical studies, biographies, and monographs. He was appointed professor of Film at the University of Southern California during the 1970s, when he was asked by Alfred Hitchcock to write his biography. Hitch remains the standard text on the film director. John's interests ranged across all aspects of the arts from Art Nouveau book illustration to Vorticism, fan paintings, poetry and stage design. Struck by the visual rather than the value of a work of art, the sale of his picture collection gives a flavour of the full gamut of his encyclopaedic mind, a man remembered for his phenomenal range of reference, his extraordinary talent for writing and his warm and generous character.
For a copy of the printed catalogue, email pictures@olympiaauctions.com
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
View Press Release for more information
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PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
