Editor's Letter: Lucinda Bredin "We write a lot about artists in Bonhams Magazine, but perhaps not as much as we should about people who enable artists to create work – their patrons. In this issue, we have a number of stories which show how important patronage and commissions are. For instance, one of the most important collections of British modernism – to be offered in the Modern British Art Sale in London this June – was assembled by Cyril Reddihough, a Yorkshire solicitor who heard about the works of a certain Ben Nicholson and went to visit him. Reddihough came away transfixed, began a correspondence with the artist, went on Tuscan holidays with him and bought works by him and other members of the St Ives group throughout his life. Nicholson later acknowledged that the help of Reddihough and his other patrons was crucial: "The understanding they gave was invaluable and the work which they bought kept us going."

Before the 20th century, patrons were royal or noble. William Dobson, famously described by the gossipy biographer John Aubrey as "the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred", was Sarjeant Painter to the court of Charles I at the moment when the Civil War was about to ignite. Dobson's robust style was perfectly suited to that momentous era, says Waldemar Januszczak, when the court had to rough it in Oxford rather than glide around the Palace of Whitehall. We know little about Dobson himself; indeed his self-portrait, which is being offered in July's Old Master Paintings sale, is possibly the most revealing image he has left. Turn to page 26 to find out more.

While Dobson was at the beck and call of Charles I, it could be said that Leo and Marlys Keoshian were at the feet of legendary Californian furniture designer John Dickinson. They commissioned him to redecorate their house in 1968 and didn't change a thing for almost half a century. This astonishing collection of furniture and fittings – stainless steel bath, anyone? – will be offered at Bonhams Los Angeles in the autumn.

And sometimes an artist becomes a patron. When asked to help a hospice charity supported by Bentley, the great British artist Sir Peter Blake grabbed the steering wheel and designed the world's first Pop Art Bentley Convertible. It will be sold in aid of the Care2Save Charitable Trust at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in June – and will doubtless achieve a heartening result."

Lucinda Bredin

Editor's Letter: Lucinda Bredin "We write a lot about artists in Bonhams Magazine, but perhaps not as much as we should about people who enable artists to create work – their patrons. In this issue, we have a number of stories which show how important patronage and commissions are. For instance, one of the most important collections of British modernism – to be offered in the Modern British Art Sale in London this June – was assembled by Cyril Reddihough, a Yorkshire solicitor who heard about the works of a certain Ben Nicholson and went to visit him. Reddihough came away transfixed, began a correspondence with the artist, went on Tuscan holidays with him and bought works by him and other members of the St Ives group throughout his life. Nicholson later acknowledged that the help of Reddihough and his other patrons was crucial: "The understanding they gave was invaluable and the work which they bought kept us going."

Before the 20th century, patrons were royal or noble. William Dobson, famously described by the gossipy biographer John Aubrey as "the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred", was Sarjeant Painter to the court of Charles I at the moment when the Civil War was about to ignite. Dobson's robust style was perfectly suited to that momentous era, says Waldemar Januszczak, when the court had to rough it in Oxford rather than glide around the Palace of Whitehall. We know little about Dobson himself; indeed his self-portrait, which is being offered in July's Old Master Paintings sale, is possibly the most revealing image he has left. Turn to page 26 to find out more.

While Dobson was at the beck and call of Charles I, it could be said that Leo and Marlys Keoshian were at the feet of legendary Californian furniture designer John Dickinson. They commissioned him to redecorate their house in 1968 and didn't change a thing for almost half a century. This astonishing collection of furniture and fittings – stainless steel bath, anyone? – will be offered at Bonhams Los Angeles in the autumn.

And sometimes an artist becomes a patron. When asked to help a hospice charity supported by Bentley, the great British artist Sir Peter Blake grabbed the steering wheel and designed the world's first Pop Art Bentley Convertible. It will be sold in aid of the Care2Save Charitable Trust at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in June – and will doubtless achieve a heartening result."

Lucinda Bredin

Editor's Letter: Lucinda Bredin "We write a lot about artists in Bonhams Magazine, but perhaps not as much as we should about people who enable artists to create work – their patrons. In this issue, we have a number of stories which show how important patronage and commissions are. For instance, one of the most important collections of British modernism – to be offered in the Modern British Art Sale in London this June – was assembled by Cyril Reddihough, a Yorkshire solicitor who heard about the works of a certain Ben Nicholson and went to visit him. Reddihough came away transfixed, began a correspondence with the artist, went on Tuscan holidays with him and bought works by him and other members of the St Ives group throughout his life. Nicholson later acknowledged that the help of Reddihough and his other patrons was crucial: "The understanding they gave was invaluable and the work which they bought kept us going."

Before the 20th century, patrons were royal or noble. William Dobson, famously described by the gossipy biographer John Aubrey as "the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred", was Sarjeant Painter to the court of Charles I at the moment when the Civil War was about to ignite. Dobson's robust style was perfectly suited to that momentous era, says Waldemar Januszczak, when the court had to rough it in Oxford rather than glide around the Palace of Whitehall. We know little about Dobson himself; indeed his self-portrait, which is being offered in July's Old Master Paintings sale, is possibly the most revealing image he has left. Turn to page 26 to find out more.

While Dobson was at the beck and call of Charles I, it could be said that Leo and Marlys Keoshian were at the feet of legendary Californian furniture designer John Dickinson. They commissioned him to redecorate their house in 1968 and didn't change a thing for almost half a century. This astonishing collection of furniture and fittings – stainless steel bath, anyone? – will be offered at Bonhams Los Angeles in the autumn.

And sometimes an artist becomes a patron. When asked to help a hospice charity supported by Bentley, the great British artist Sir Peter Blake grabbed the steering wheel and designed the world's first Pop Art Bentley Convertible. It will be sold in aid of the Care2Save Charitable Trust at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in June – and will doubtless achieve a heartening result."

Lucinda Bredin

Editor's Letter: Lucinda Bredin "We write a lot about artists in Bonhams Magazine, but perhaps not as much as we should about people who enable artists to create work – their patrons. In this issue, we have a number of stories which show how important patronage and commissions are. For instance, one of the most important collections of British modernism – to be offered in the Modern British Art Sale in London this June – was assembled by Cyril Reddihough, a Yorkshire solicitor who heard about the works of a certain Ben Nicholson and went to visit him. Reddihough came away transfixed, began a correspondence with the artist, went on Tuscan holidays with him and bought works by him and other members of the St Ives group throughout his life. Nicholson later acknowledged that the help of Reddihough and his other patrons was crucial: "The understanding they gave was invaluable and the work which they bought kept us going."

Before the 20th century, patrons were royal or noble. William Dobson, famously described by the gossipy biographer John Aubrey as "the most excellent painter that England hath yet bred", was Sarjeant Painter to the court of Charles I at the moment when the Civil War was about to ignite. Dobson's robust style was perfectly suited to that momentous era, says Waldemar Januszczak, when the court had to rough it in Oxford rather than glide around the Palace of Whitehall. We know little about Dobson himself; indeed his self-portrait, which is being offered in July's Old Master Paintings sale, is possibly the most revealing image he has left. Turn to page 26 to find out more.

While Dobson was at the beck and call of Charles I, it could be said that Leo and Marlys Keoshian were at the feet of legendary Californian furniture designer John Dickinson. They commissioned him to redecorate their house in 1968 and didn't change a thing for almost half a century. This astonishing collection of furniture and fittings – stainless steel bath, anyone? – will be offered at Bonhams Los Angeles in the autumn.

And sometimes an artist becomes a patron. When asked to help a hospice charity supported by Bentley, the great British artist Sir Peter Blake grabbed the steering wheel and designed the world's first Pop Art Bentley Convertible. It will be sold in aid of the Care2Save Charitable Trust at Bonhams' Goodwood Festival of Speed sale in June – and will doubtless achieve a heartening result."

Lucinda Bredin