Solid prices achieved for Palace-related paintings as they go under hammer at auction

 

Firm prices were achieved for two paintings of local interest when they went under the hammer at a Bonhams auction this morning.  The painting above of a scene from a match played at the old Crystal Palace sold for £127,400 (including buyer's premium) while the study of action between Crystal Palace and Oxford United fetched £1,920 (including premium). The identities of the buyers have not been divulged.

Recalling the days when the old Crystal Palace hosted Man City in FA Cup action

The Crystal Palace provides the impressive backdrop for match action between two clubs whose fortunes have since diverged. 

HERE'S hoping that an important painting featuring football action at the ground of the old Crystal Palace exhibition centre does not leave the country.

There is likely to be interest from overseas, possibly including Abu Dhabi, as well as at home when a vibrant study of a 1926 FA Cup match involving Manchester City comes up for grabs tomorrow  Wednesday December 13.

According to auction house Bonhams, bidding could reach as much as £150,000, maybe more, before the hammer falls.  

The  match was played on January 9, 1926, 10 years before the magnificent Crystal Palace building was destroyed by a mystery fire.

City's opponents for the Third Round that day were not today's Crystal Palace, who were by now playing at Selhurst Park, but an amateur side, Corinthians who held on for a 3-3 draw, only to lose 4-0 in the replay  in Manchester.

City went on to reach the final that year, on their way defeating Crystal Palace by a bizarre 11-4 scoreline.

But they fell short at Wembley, losing 1-0 to Bolton Wanderers.

What of Palace in the same competition that year? Before losing to City, they had between Northampton Town (after a replay) and Chelsea.

The artist of the painting above is Charles Cundall (1890-1971) who came from Manchester where he studied at the College of Art, and it is possible that he was commissioned by City. 

But that seems unlikely given that his focus is not so much on the match action but on the activity among the fans, some perched on branches of trees.

Some of his most notable later works featured World War 2 incidents such as the withdrawal of British troops from Dunkirk.

The best-known painter of football scenes was another Manchester artist, L.S. Lowry, whose 1949 work, The Football Match, sold at Christies for £5.6-million in January 2013.

What of Corinthians? In 1939, just before the outbreak or the war, they merged with another amateur club, to become Corinthian-Casuals. 

Their all-white strip is said to have been the inspiration for the similar strip worn by Spanish giants Real Madrid.  

Holloway: Niklas Bendtner would have been 'great signing' for Palace, but chairman blocked deal

Book reveals Holloway's fall-out with club chairman

FORMER Crystal Palace manager Ian Holloway has revealed how he fell out with club chairman Steve Parish over a prospective signing.

The former's target player was  Niklas Bendtner, a Danish striker who had been struggling to hit top form at Arsenal.

"I thought he would could be a great signing for us," says Holloway in his book which was published in paperback earlier this year. "I was thinking he could bring us that little extra bit of quality we needed."

He thought the deal had been sorted in the run-up to the transfer deadline - but it was not to be.

"I came in the following morning and sitting there was another lad."

When Holloway protested to the chairman that he had not been kept informed about the Bendtner situation and knew nothing about the alternative signing, the chairman was unapologetic.

He is quoted by Holloway as having responded: "What you've got to realise is that it's my show,"

The then manager's response was: "You're too close to this agent, and you've undermined me - he hasn't mentioned the player once to me and the kid isn't on my radar."

In his book, How To Be A Football Manager, confides: "That hurt me so much, but the golden rule here is that, if you fall out with the chairman, there's almost certainly going to be only one winner."

Within days, Holloway had left the club, shortly afterwards to be replaced by his friend, Tony Pulis, author of the foreword to the book.

Steve Parish is not identified in this section of the book, but it does not take an Einstein to work out that it is he is the 'chairman' referred to. 

Later, Holloway concedes: "In fairness to my former chairman, what he's done with the club up to the present day is fantastic, but working his way was not the way I wanted to manage.

"We'd been good for each other, but it was time to move on." 

Nor is the agent named but he is thought to be Will Salthouse (42), boss of the firm, Unique Sports Group.

Also unnamed is the player signed in favour of Bendtner but it is thought to have been  either Adlène Guedioura or Adrian Mariappa.

In his book, Holloway also reveals how, during Palace's promotion season, he became "needled" at press conference when he was constantly asked about Wilf Zaha when his ethos was about the "team" and "everyone being equally important".

In response to a question from one journalist, he snapped: "Why don't you ask me about Mile Jedinak who is one of the finest leaders I have ever worked with, both on and off the pitch?"

During the same session, the former manager went to bang the drum for Glenn Murray, Damien Delaney and Julian Speroni.    

Full of fascinating insights about his four decades in football - and plentiful witticisms - How To Be a Football Manager is published by Headline Publishing at £22.  

Why did artist choose to paint study of match between Palace and Oxford United?

 

Who is taking the throw? Anyone hazard a guess?

CAN anyone recall a match - thought to have been played at Selhurst Park - between Palace and Oxford United?

It features in a painting that is set to go under the hammer on December 13 in a sale being conducted by the London auction house, Bonhams.

Curiously, centre stage is not so much the on-pitch action as a steward - or, rather, a back view of a steward?

When was the match played? What was the result? What is the identity of the steward? Who are the ball boys? And who (Number 3) is taking in the throw-in for Palace?   

Another mystery. How did the artist, Austrian-British Hans Schwarz come to be at the match? Was he a Palace fan?

It is too late to ask him because he died, aged 81, in 2003.

The guide price for the 49.5 x 71cm (19.5 x 28 in) painting is £1,500-2,000, and it looks likely to be met and even exceeded.

According to Bonhams, online bidding had already reached £1,400 four days before the date of the sale.