Sworders are delighted to offer five auctions a year dedicated to the sale of modern and contemporary paintings, sculpture, prints & multiples, and drawings. The calendar comprises two live auctions held at our Stansted Mountfitchet Auction Rooms, alongside three live online sales.
Catalogues feature works by largely, but by no means exclusively, British artists, including Henry Moore, John Piper, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Ben Nicholson, John Nash, David Hockney, L S Lowry, and Sandra Blow, with notable recent successes for works from St Ives School artists Sir Terry Frost, Patrick Heron and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham. This is a dynamic and popular area of the market with established and new purchasers keen to collect these bright and sometimes challenging works.
20th Century East Anglian art is now more popular than ever, with Sworders being the market leader in the field, having established world record prices for several artists from the region. Works by Cedric Morris, Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, John Aldridge, Walter Hoyle, and Michael Rothenstein remain in high demand. Though, as prices for these names move further beyond the reach of most collectors’ pockets, we have seen a steady rise in the popularity of works from other local artists including Lucy Harwood, Allan Walton and Joan Warburton.
Sworders' specialist team has extensive knowledge and experience in assessing, valuing and promoting works of art. We uphold a reputation for our marketing prowess, which when combined with an extensive private client base, strong and longstanding relationships with the trade, and an international reach, has resulted in countless exceptional prices being achieved.
Furthermore, our London Gallery (situated just a moment’s walk from Leicester Square, adjacent to London’s vibrant Covent Garden in the West End), with its 700 square feet of exhibition space, enables us to showcase works in the very heart of the London and UK art market.
If you would like to discuss the consignment of an individual work or an entire collection, or would like information about a forthcoming sale, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our specialist team.
Be sure not to miss out on the launch of a new catalogue by signing up for alerts here and follow the department on Instagram @sworderspaintings
Launching this November... Sworders is delighted to present Tastemakers: Modern and Contemporary Art & Design, an exciting new auction celebrating the artists, designers, makers, collectors and patrons who have shaped visual culture across the 20th and 21st centuries.
Our specialists hold regular valuation days. Please contact us for more information, or complete the online form to enquire about the valuation of your items.
Bryn Sayles
Modern & Contemporary Art | Senior Valuer, Business Development
T: 01279 817778
E: brynsayles@sworder.co.uk
Welcome to the Sworders East Anglian and Great Bardfield Artist Directory where you will find information on the very talented group of artists who resided in Great Bardfield and the area of East Anglia.
Want to know how much your Modern & Contemporary Art may be worth? Fill out our easy to use form and a member of the team will be in touch with free advice shortly.
Here, close friend, art historian and former Senior Curator of Modern British Art at Tate, Andrew Wilson, offers an insight into James Birch’s remarkable collection and the extraordinary life behind it. Having known James since the late 1980s, Andrew has witnessed first-hand his restless curiosity, his friendships with artists and his instinct for the unusual.
15 September 2026
Art dealer, curator, gallerist and author James Birch has spent more than four decades championing artists and staging groundbreaking exhibitions. This October, approximately 300 works from his private collection come to auction at Sworders, tracing a remarkable career from the King’s Road to Moscow and beyond.
Day One of our autumn Modern & Contemporary Art auction will be celebrate The James Birch Collection, offering bidders an exciting opportunity to purchase works from Birch's private collection.
27 August 2026
