Portrait of Charles Dickens rediscovered in South Africa

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Portrait of Charles Dickens rediscovered in South Africa | A lost portrait of the Victorian novelist Charles Dickens has been discovered, the Guardian reports. The miniature portrait was bought at a general sale in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, as part of a tray of assorted objects that sold for a combined total of the equivalent of £27; the buyer later found that the face resembled Dickens, and contacted the art dealer Philip Mould’s London gallery, which has since verified its authenticity. The work was painted by Margaret Gillies in 1843, when Dickens was 31 years old; it was exhibited at the Royal Academy the following year, and printed as the frontispiece of the literary collection A New Spirit of the Age (1844).

Spike Island wins the Freelands Award 2018 | Spike Island, the Bristol-based centre for contemporary art and design, has been named as the recipient of this year’s Freelands Award. The annual award of £100,000 is presented by the Freelands Foundation, to enable a regional arts organisation to stage an exhibition by a mid-career woman artist; a quarter of the prize money goes directly to the artist. Spike Island will present a large-scale exhibition of new work by the sculptor Veronica Ryan, accompanied by a new monograph, in the autumn of 2020.

Francis Outred resigns as Christie’s head of post-war European art | The head of post-war and contemporary art in Europe at Christie’s, Francis Outred, has announced his resignation from the company. Outred served in his role for 10 years, and was the first appointed head of his department at the auction house.