Huddersfield star James Mason's art by Brighouse's Peter Brook sells for £81,740 at Bonhams auction
Nov 18 2010 by Joanne Douglas, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
ART owned by Hollywood actor James Mason has sold for more than £81,000 at auction.
The items, many specifically created for the film star, were painted by Brighouse artist Peter Brook who died last November aged 83.
They went under the auctioneer’s gavel at Bonham's in Chester yesterday and the auction house is now looking at whether they have made a world record price for the sale of one of Peter Brook’s works.
James Mason’s estate put up 19 paintings for sale which reminded James of his hometown of Huddersfield and its surrounding area.
The top item made £12,480 for a picture called Pennine Christmas Day which had been estimated to sell for £2,500 to £3,500.
Guide prices indicated the collection would raise around £46,000 in total, but they all sold for £81,740.
Richard Hopkinson, head of pictures at Bonham's, said the work of Peter Brook and linked to James Mason was a strong selling point.
“It was a very strong auction,’’ he said. They are very good paintings.
“There is an enormous amount of feeling, love, skill and craftsmanship gone into them and it is a tribute to him that people have paid a high price for his work.”
The film star was born in Marsh in 1909 to John and Mabel Mason.
He had no formal training as an actor, but won roles in British films from the mid 1930s and starred in many from the 1940s onwards, as well as appearing in many Hollywood films including Julius Caesar in 1953 and A Star is Born in 1954. He died in 1984.
