MORE than 250 art works from the region’s most celebrated artists will feature in an auction sale.

Reeman Dansie’s dedicated bi-annual sale of East Anglian art celebrates the unrivalled rich artistic heritage of the region and features pieces by Maggi Hambling, Sir Cedric Morris, Leonard Squirrell and many other familiar names.

A group of works by an artist dubbed the Banksy of East Anglia will go under the hammer as well as several collections from artists’ estates.

The most prominent of these is a collection of 30 works from the Estate of Paul Earee (1888-1965), said to be Sudbury’s finest artist since Thomas Gainsborough.

Chelmsford Weekly News:

Lot 1007 is Paul Earee's Suffolk landscape up for £300 to £500

But perhaps the most unusual, according to auctioneer Daniel Wright, are a group of paintings on scraps of cardboard by contemporary artist Adam Neate, described as “one of the first artists to be discovered online”.

His quirky piece of a person’s head is up for between £1,000 and £1,500.

Mr Wright said: “Colchester-born Neate trained at Ipswich College before embarking on a career in graphic design in London.

“From an early age he was interested in hip-hop culture and graffiti art and over time developed his own unique spray paint-style.

“He chose to save money by working on scraps of card but became so prolific he had a surplus of work.

“As a solution Adam started liberating his artworks, by night distributing large quantities of his work about the streets of London, hanging paintings on lamp posts and wheelie bins to be discovered and gathered up by members of the public the following morning.

“By 2005 these found works were exchanging hands on eBay for high prices.

“Not only had Neate found rapid success but also cemented his place in art history.

“In 2007, buoyed by the growing clamour for his work, his painting the Suicide Bomber sold for £78,500 at auction.”

Chelmsford Weekly News:

Thomas Smythe's Rotunda

Potential buyers can also expect Thomas Smythe’s (1825-1907) historic oil painting of the Rotunda in Ipswich.

The sale previews tomorrow and Monday and will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

All lots are illustrated in full online at reemandansie.com.