Yorkshire artist’s works sell for top prices

Both depict a young man seen from behind, with the sea in the background.

Back of a Boy Bather smashed its estimate of £5,000-7,000 to sell for £25,200.

The work was described as a sensitive portrayal of a young shirtless boy sitting by the water’s edge. It is a relatively early figure painting by the York-born Tuke, and although unfinished, it shows the delicate, soft handling of oils that Tuke mastered in order to capture the subtleties of tender flesh and form in the boy’s head, back and arms.

Beach Study is one of the last paintings Tuke exhibited at the Royal Academy before he died in March 1929, and it shows a semi-clad male figure by the sea leaning on rocks and bathed in Cornish sunlight.

The subject is one of Tuke’s most loyal and longstanding models, Charlie Mitchell who lived from 1885 until 1957.

Experts say the remarkably bold and expressionistic work demonstrates Tuke’s confidence and mastery in the depiction of light, and there is a hint of sails on the horizon in a shimmering, sparkling mirage of heat and light. This sold for £30,000.