Unseen works and letters by David Hockney – Britain’s most celebrated living artist – discovered in a cardboard box, are set to make thousands at auction next month.
The astonishing find came to light in a London home along with lengthy correspondence from the Bradford-born painter and other well-known artists including Pablo Picasso and Henry Moore.
Jim Spencer, from Rare Book Auctions who has teamed up with Hansons Auctioneers to host the sale on April 1, was originally called to the home to value a book.
But when he arrived, he was astounded to discover boxes of letters and postcards from artistic greats such as Henry Moore, Francis Bacon and Bridget Riley.
He said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The vendor had contacted me about a book, and we just got talking.
“When she mentioned the letters, I got straight onto a train from Lichfield to visit her and was completely blown away.”
The remarkable correspondence was all addressed to Véra Russell, who moved to the UK with her well-to-do parents aged eight in 1917 fleeing the Russian Revolution.
Taking the name Lindsay, she trained in ballet before moving into acting making her stage debut in 1932 starring alongside Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud.
Spencer continued: “In 1956 she married the art critic John Russell. She wrote seriously about art, but when her articles appeared they had the byline ‘Mrs John Russell’. She was also a gallery owner, championing upcoming artists and organised exhibitions. But today no one has heard of her, she has been written out of history. But she was the most amazing woman.”
Her correspondence included dozens of letters from Hockney – some written at 5am – as well as a pen and ink portrait dated 1978, which is expected to make £15,000-£20,000. One of Hockey’s rare early digital works given to Véra Russell has an estimate of £1,000-£2,000.
One letter, dated 1976 from Colorado, reads: “My dear Vera, I got your note yesterday just as I was leaving. It was such a pleasant lift. Nowadays I almost dread the mail, it’s never interesting and personal, so your note was like old times. It’s 5am here, (transatlantic travel throws me off balance for a few days) and the American election results are endlessly boring.”
Another snapshot in the collection, dated 1979, shows Véra Russell, Hockney and Gregory Evans – his muse from the 1970s – in Switzerland.
In another, from the notoriously hellraising artist, Francis Bacon, dated 1966, the artist writes he is “working a lot and living a sort of monastic life”. In another letter, dated a year later, he describes fellow voyagers on a cruise as “Indescribably boring.”
Spencer said: “Her address book is a Who’s Who of 20th– century cultural greats. Under ‘S’ come the composers Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg, under ‘P’ are the addresses of Picasso and Harold Pinter. There are also details for Samuel Beckett, Roald Dahl, CS Forester and Aldous Huxley.”
Another sale highlight is a painting by the celebrated Suffolk artist Maggi Hambling (b. 1945) who worked as Russell’s secretary in the 1960s.
Jim said: “It has been the greatest pleasure working through everything – completely exhausting, lots of late nights and weekends, sorting mountains of papers into a logical order for collectors, transcribing correspondence, researching everything – but it’s been the loveliest collection I’ve ever handled.”
An Éminence Grise of the Arts: The Collection of Véra Russell (1911-1992) by Lichfield-based Rare Book Auctions (part of Hansons Auctioneers) takes place at Hansons’ Etwallsaleroom, near Derby, on April 1.
Auction Details
Auction: An Éminence Grise of the Arts: The Collection of Véra Russell (1911-1992)
Auction date: 1st April 2026 | 10:30am
Location: Hansons’ Derbyshire Saleroom
Auction contact: [email protected]
Catalogue/bidding: www.hansonslive.co.uk | www.the-saleroom.com
