Sotheby's reopens doors with auction of a Stanley Spencer wartime gem

The 1940 painting, Cottage Garden, Leonard Stanley, is expected to fetch more than £300,000 when it goes on sale in JulyThe bucolic joy of a painting by one of the most inspirational British artists of the 20th century is likely to cut through the new reality of face masks, hand sanitiser and social distancing when Sotheby’s opens its doors next month for its first exhibition and live auction since the Covid-19 lockdown began.In 1940, when Stanley Spencer painted Cottage Garden, Leon