Leonard Russell Squirrell – who was born in 1893 and died in 1979 – was a talented artist who joined the Ipswich School of Art and went on to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
He travelled to Italy and France but some of his main works were in England and in his home county of Suffolk.
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Ipswich solicitor James Mason Martin of Turner Martin and Symes became his patron and as a result he painted a series of works featuring Framlingham – the town in which the solicitor grew up.
The works were passed down to James’ grandson Tony Martin, who died in October this year.
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The Tony Martin Collection – which includes the works – is due to go under the hammer through a sale hosted by auctioneers Clarke and Simpson on Wednesday November 26 at 10am.
Auctioneer Geoffrey Barfoot said Tony would occasionally add to his grandfather’s collection when paintings became available.
“Whenever I had a Squirrell painting I would look him up. Sometimes he would buy it and sometimes he wouldn’t,” he said.
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As well as watercolours the artist worked in other mediums including etchings.
Some of these prints in the collection come with a guide of under £100 while his watercolours range in estimated value from anything between £300 to £2,000.
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“He did a series of paintings in Provence in France,” said Mr Barfoot. He also painted around the Thames and in Derbyshire.
“A lot of his work had almost an architectural feel to it. There was amazing detail,” he said.
“There’s a nice series of three paintings from Fram Gala day in 1926 – they have almost an impressionistic look about them.”
He added: “I think the two stand-out lots are the study of the town square from the church tower and the aerial view of the castle, college and surrounding fields.”
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The bulk of the collection was James Mason Martin’s collection but as a result of this and his own purchases, Tony ended up with a number of the artist’s important works, he said.
Among the most notable are the aerial view of Framlingham and another of Market Hill in Framlingham. There are paintings of Framlingham Castle and the church tower from around the 1950s.
Mr Barfoot said he expected the sale would be of interest to local collectors keen on town scenes as well as some further afield.
There are 173 lots in total in the sale – including ceramics and clocks.
The sale also includes Tony Martin’s memorabilia which mainly features Framlingham and Saxtead-related books and items.
A celebration of Tony Martin’s life will take place on Saturday, November 22, at a memorial service at Framlingham College Chapel starting at 11am.
