There was much consternation in the Fine Art world today as news broke that a certain local "Lady" seeking to dispose of two highly-regarded works by members of the Thrupiece School chose to eschew the services of establishment auctioneers Sotherbones and instead instructed the insurgent Whisky-McNightly Gallery to auction the pieces.
Though it has enjoyed a steady growth in reputation as a result of a number of highly successful auctions, the Whisky-McNightly Gallery [PROP: Mrs Edna Whisky-McNightly] has largely flown "under the radar", offering discreet exchanges of treasured works with minimum publicity from its understated Winfrith Newburgh premises. This has suited many collectors and in particular those for whom, authenticity is key but provenance less so.
Two months ago the Gallery was successful in its legal battle to impose a "gagging order"* on the Sidling St Nicholas Sun whose fearless investigative team threatened to publish an exposé on the sale of several art works last seen many decades ago on an unscheduled train from Paris bound for Berlin.
* aka High Court Injunction - device used on more than one occasion by any number of players associated with Mannington United football team whose nickname is, not without reason, "the shaggers". It has also been deployed by celebrities from the world of showbusiness largely in connection with what is loosely described as the need to suppress lurid stories of the collateral damage caused by sex, drugs and rock and roll.
Gallery chief - Mony Lawn-Derring - declined to comment on any matters beyond the upcoming sale; volunteering that it was a unique opportunity to acquire two fine pieces that rarely come to the market. She added: "The Thrupiece School is generally admired and has become very collectable in recent years following the disappearance of Professor Thrupiece its founder and most highly-regarded member. We are not, of course, saying these are by the Professor himself, nor are we saying that they are definitively by another hand. They are unsigned and undated which leaves a great deal of room for doubt. What is not in question, however, is their quality or their desirability to knowledgeable collectors who will make up their own minds whether to hang them openly or keep them securely in the Kaiseroda salt mine."
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