If like us, you’re of a certain age, the name Tony Hart encompasses so many nostalgic memories. He was THE ‘art guy’ of our childhood. The guy that kept you glued to the tv set and mesmerised you with his artistic creations on his award winning show ‘Take Hart’.
If you’re unfamiliar with the programme, ‘Take Hart’ began in 1977 and ran for 6 years before becoming ‘HartBeat’. Featuring Tony Hart and his plasticine companion ‘Morph’, every episode was full of inspiring art ideas that could be tried at home, plus our favourite bit ‘The Gallery’; this exciting section of the show displayed works sent in by viewers. As a child we loved being an art critic, deciding which ones we liked the most.
Looking back our only regret was not being as brave as those we were happily critiquing.
Well, today we received an email announcing that we all now have the chance to own some of Hart’s wonderful creations, many of them actually produced on ‘Take Hart’.
The art work on sale comes from the personal collection of Tony Hart’s agent Roc Renal, having been kindly gifted to him by Hart over the years.
on behalf of his agent Roc Renal
The work is being sold at auction on 29th January via online auction house Ewbanks and features over 50 individual pieces and collections many of which are signed and dated.
What we love about this auction (besides the fact you could own a piece of art history) is according to the valuations displayed on the website there is something for all budgets. Prices range from £30 up to over £1,000 but, as these are guide prices they could sell for more (or less for that matter).
Naturally, as many of the pieces were used on his art show, there are a few childlike works, such as his series of Humpty Dumpty, Jungle Book and Disney related pieces but there are also some more ‘serious’ art works such as his landscape paintings of Montserrat and the Ligurian Coast in Italy.
For us, we’re just excited at the chance of owning something by someone who inspired us to follow an artistic path. In a similar fashion to the likes of Bob Ross, Tony Hart’s enthusiasm and commitment to art encouraged a whole generation to pick up a paint brush, pencil or crayon and let their imagination run wild.
The Tony Hart Auction takes place on 29th January at 12pm via www.ewbankauctions.co.uk
