01/05/2026 General News, Pictures & Prints
The Tall Tree - Silver fur, Near Church, Bignor watercolour and gouache 58x 26.5cm£1000-1500
Bellmans are delighted to offer works from the collection of Stanley Roy Badmin’s step-granddaughter to be included in the sale of Modern & Contemporary Art on 20th May at 11am. It is a collection that could only really belong to a family member as, along with some superb examples of his watercolours, drawings and etchings, it includes numerous sketchbooks, painting materials, some fascinating correspondence, diplomas and references from the Royal College of Art, hand-drawn birthday cards and even a Badmin-designed aftershave gift box.
Wastdale from Buckbarrow watercolour 28 x 22cm £1200-1800
It has been a fascinating privilege to hear of the artist from the present owner – how he would mow pathways in the long-grass at home to create a sense of adventure, how leaf gathering in the Autumn was a much-beloved family tradition and how a birthday card was another opportunity to display, and crucially share, his passion for the natural world with people of all ages.
A Birthday card from Badmin to the present owner (Not For Sale)
View from the Studio, Bignor – The present owner is included in this work (Not For Sale)
The numerous books he illustrated are testament to this; those aimed at children are informative but never patronising, while the Shell and other guides allow adults to return to the childlike joy of learning and exploring. For the naturally modest Badmin, his subjects were to take centre stage, rather than the artist himself.
Study for The Shell Guide to Shropshire Pencil, ink and watercolour on tracing paper 37 x 50cm £300-500
Like many Modern British watercolourists he brilliantly balances the aesthetic and painterly demands of the composition as a whole, with a rich and hugely knowledgeable sense of detail. This is perhaps best encapsulated by the Shell Guide to Trees and Shrubs of which studies for May, August and September are included in the current sale; the formula for such compositions is a sweeping, atmospheric landscape, full of majestic trees, before the eye is drawn to the foreground which includes meticulous studies of leaves, flowers and seeds.
Study for The Shell Guide to Trees and Shrubs pencil, ink and watercolour on tracing paper 37 x 50cm £300-500
The study for The Four Seasons plate design – Spring, lists no less than sixteen species of wildflower in the margin and Badmin well knew that there are many more than four seasons to a year, sensitively observing the nuanced merging of spring to summer and so on.
Spring – Study for The Four Seasons plate design pencil and watercolour 21.5 x 27cm £600-800
Such attention to detail was borne out of a passion for his subject but also a strong sense of discipline and pride in his work – books and magazines which he contributed to are signed on the cover, as is the aforementioned aftershave gift box. The many rare states of etchings, included in the sale, include telling notes to himself to adjust the minutiae of a certain aspect of a composition. Such high standards led to him, at the age of twenty-six, to becoming one of the youngest ever members of The Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour.
Cheyne Row Chelsea etching 15 x 15cm £300-500
While his love for the natural world can never be in doubt, the collection reveals a strong sense of curiosity for wider culture which he incorporated into the Shell Guides; one sketchbook contains sketches of a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, a portrait of John Dryden after Sir Godfrey Kneller and a Mother and Child sculpture by Henry Moore - all for the Shell Guide to Northamptonshire. There is also a fascinating etching of a Van Dyck self-portrait inscribed ‘my first etching’.
A selection of artists materials belonging to Stanley Roy Badmin £50-100
This breadth of cultural reference is one of the defining aspects of the Shell guides; a vibrant study for Shropshire revels in associated literature, architecture and pottery combined to create the very essence of the county’s character.
Coaters, Bignor Pen and ink heightened with white 10 x 16cm £300-500
Certain works deserve special mention – a majestic and sweeping view of Wast Water in the Lake District will be familiar to anyone who has climbed Scafell Pike; A towering silver-fur, surrounded by blossoming fruit trees against a vibrant spring-sky; works in pen and ink depicting his beloved Coaters as well as Near Berden, Essex are rendered with an exceptional degree of patience and control; atypical but highly accomplished etchings and associated studies of female nudes; graphic watercolours such as The Telegram Boy and The New Coat, all which evidence the diversity of this remarkable and enchanting artist.
The Artist in his studio (photograph courtesy of the present owner)