I think it is probably fair to say Mick Cawston was one of the most popular English sporting artists of his time, both artistically and as a person. It is ironic that his illness convinced him otherwise and brought about his early death at just 47 years of age.

His career brought him rapidly to fame and to the interest of collectors from all walks of life. In 1998 he was awarded the ‘Published Artist of the Year’ award by the British Fine Art Trade Guild. This was awarded for being voted the top selling artist in a poll taken from commercial art galleries around the country and the success was based mainly on his wonderful dog and humorous prints.

He went through a new phase when he moved to Devon and almost totally abandoned his dog painting after some ‘arty type’ told him dog painting wasn’t ‘real art’. A very sensitive and modest man who lacked belief in himself, despite his success, he took this to heart and vowed never to paint another dog again. Apart form a few commissions and sketches of his own dogs he didn’t.

He faded from view for a year or two commercially and then, after a chance meeting with the artist Jonathan Walker, who paints wonderful anthropomorphic animals, he developed a whole new genre of work with his own view of the animal kingdom. His Foxes taking the place of humans in so many sporting forms caught the public imagination and became even bigger sellers than his dog paintings. At the time of his death he had just been voted runner up for top selling artist again.

This exhibition offers collectors the opportunity to see work from all his periods and to acquire both rare prints and paintings. Because some of these pieces are so sought after, Sally Mitchell has decided that the fairest thing to do is to offer the collection in an ‘on line’ auction at www.i-bidder.com, that will give people the time to look at the pictures and place bids over a seven week period from September 15th to November 11th  when the auction will close at 12 noon. At any time it will be possible to see what the bid is standing at in a similar way to Ebay. Sally says she thinks this is the first time a gallery exhibition has been offered in this way and hopes people will appreciate the openness of it.

The paintings and prints may be seen physically at three venues. They are to be exhibited in the afternoon and evening of October 19th and the morning of the 20th at Cannons Brook Golf Course, Harlow,  Essex, the county Mick grew up in. They will then travel to Devon, his home for the last ten years of his life, where they will be shown on the 21st and 22nd of October at The George Hotel, South Molton, again afternoon and evening and the following morning. The exhibition will then return to Sally Mitchell’s gallery in Tuxford Nottinghamshire where it will be on show from 25th October –November 10th.

The catalogue and auction site will show only the work that is for sale but the exhibitions will include further paintings of interest that have been borrowed for the exhibition.

For Mick Cawston enthusiasts there is also a new book being published at the end of October illustrating the first half of his print portfolio. The book is a hardback with 160 pages and 211 colour illustrations and a number of black and white. It details dates of publication and sizes of editions together with odd interesting snippets of information.

For further details of both the exhibition and the book, please contact Sally Mitchell fine arts 01777 838234 or go to www.dogart.com .