A rare collection of 59 studies and sketches by the Nottingham artist, Arthur Spooner are being offered for sale in the Fine Paintings sale at Bonhams Chester on 13 June, 2012.

The collection of sketches valued at £3,000- £4,000 provide a rare opportunity to purchase works by an artist considered in Nottingham to be a local hero and very fine painter.

Spooner was a British painter from Nottingham famous for his figurative painting and landscape depictions.

The new collection of sketches to be auctioned at Bonhams dates from the 1950s when the owner was accepted as a pupil by Spooner.

Spooner, who was trained at the Nottingham School of Art, later taught painting there in the early 20th century.

The artist's method of teaching required the pupil to attend class with a primed canvas board upon which he painted while the pupil observed the technique. The collection of studies is an example of Spooner's unique teaching technique and includes a wide range of subjects from seascapes to landscapes, horses and portraits.

Although Arthur Spooner studied in the traditional Victorian manner at Nottingham School of Art, he went on to paint in the British Impressionist style, excelling at atmospheric effects of light.

Spooner's most famous painting was of a scene from Nottingham's renowned Goose Fair which was later sold in 2004 at Christie's auction house. The work, painted in 1926, shows one of the last times the event was held in the city centre, before it moved to the Forest Recreation Ground.

Spooner painted this work from his rooftop studio which overlooked the square. Currently hanging in Nottingham Castle Gallery, it was purchased at auction for the staggering price of £218,000.00. Another painting by Spooner showing the Nottinghamshire Boat Club sold for nearly £100,000 in 1986.

Spooner was a founding member of the Nottingham Society of Artists and later became the Vice President in 1924 and 1938. He exhibited locally and nationally at the Royal Academy and Royal Society of British Artists. Spooner is particularly remembered for his poster "Home Ales the connoisseur's choice", showing an old man with a foaming pint of ale which appeared on billboards around Nottingham in the 1940s and 50s.