Latest news with #ScottishArtSale
Edinburgh Reporter
30-05-2025
- Automotive
- Edinburgh Reporter
Vettriano studies sold at auction
A group of six studies by the late Scottish artist Jack Vettriano fetched nearly £132,000 at auction in Edinburgh amid a peak in interest in his work following his recent unexpected death. The oil paintings were completed by Vettriano over a period of more than 20 years and included subjects ranging from a poignant self portrait to one of his iconic racing car scenes. The works, which led Bonhams' Scottish Art Sale in Edinburgh, were among the first by Vettriano to appear at auction since the artist died in March, aged 73, at his home in Nice in the south of France. The highlight was Pendine Beach (Study), painted in 1996, which made £44,800. The picture was part of a series by Vettriano featuring racing driver Malcolm Campbell in his land speed record-breaking car Bluebird. It was commissioned by the late designer and restaurateur Sir Terance Conran and hung in his Bluebird Restaurant in London, Vettriano's study for 'Self Portrait – Lost Soul', which fetched £11,500, showed the late artist dressed all in black standing with hands in his pockets under a Biblical quote reading: 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' Meanwhile, the artist's 'Daytona Diner', painted in 1995 as a study for his famous larger work, 'Diner', fetched £14,100, and 'A Letter of Consequence', showing a man examining a note, was sold for £19,200. Another study titled 'The White Basque' was sold for £28,200 and Vettriano's 1996 painting 'Girls will be Boys' doubled its estimate by making £14,100. Bonhams, who had worked closely with Vettriano in the past, paid tribute to the 'people's painter' and led the sale with his work. May Matthews, Managing Director of Bonhams Scotland, said: 'Jack Vettriano's death is a great loss to Scottish art. 'His paintings are distinctive and original and what's more, they are familiar to the person in the street with little or no knowledge of Scottish art. In this he is perhaps unique, and why he has been given the title of 'the people's painter'. 'We've seen a lot of interest in Vettriano's work since his death, and it was no surprise that all six studies sold well.' Vettriano was born Jack Hoggan, in 1951, and raised in Methil, Fife. He famously took up painting as a hobby after a girlfriend bought him a set of watercolours for his 21st birthday in November 1972. By the time he came to prominence in 1988, he had adopted his mother's maiden name, Vettriano. Scotland's most commercially successful artist, his most famous painting, The Singing Butler, with figures dancing on a beach under a cloudy sky, was sold at auction in 2004 for £744,800. Like this: Like Related
Edinburgh Reporter
04-05-2025
- Business
- Edinburgh Reporter
Peploe masterpiece for sale at Bonhams Edinburgh
A century-old still life masterpiece by the leading Scottish Colourist Samuel John Peploe could fetch up to £350,000 at auction in Edinburgh this month. The oil painting 'Roses in a Green Jug' was completed around 1925, when Peploe was at the peak of his artistic career, working in a studio in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh. It was bought by his patron, the Glasgow shipping magnate Major Ion R. Harrison, and hung in his home, Croft House, in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire. The signed 22 x 18 inch oil painting on canvas will be among the highlights of Bonhams' Scottish Art Sale on May 21, where it is expected to attract bids of £250,000-350,000. May Matthews, Managing Director, Bonhams Scotland, said: 'Peploe's Roses in a Green Jug is a masterful execution of composition and colour, taking inspiration from Paul Cezanne and French Post-Impressionism, while maintaining the artist's distinctive individual style. 'Peploe's still lifes were meticulously planned and executed, creating the dialogue between object and space for which he and his fellow Colourists were renowned. 'The work has a remarkable provenance, having once hung in the drawing room of Croft House owned by Ion R. Harrison, a notable patron of the Scottish Colourists. 'We expect significant interest for this rare and exciting work offered at auction for the very first time.' Other highlights in the sale include paintings by Peploe's fellow Colourists F.C.B. Cadell's and George Leslie Hunter. Cadell's portrait of May Easter could fetch £40,000-60,000, while his landscape depicting The Island of Rhum from Iona is expected to make £30,000-50,000, while Hunter's Still Life with Jug carries an estimate of £20,000-30,000. S.J. Peploe, born in Edinburgh in 1871, was the eldest of the four Scottish Colourists, who also included John Duncan Fergusson, George Leslie Hunter and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell. Peploe spent much of his career on a quest to produce the perfect still life, and became renowned for his compositions. In a letter, he wrote: 'There is so much in mere objects, flowers, leaves, jugs, what not — colours, forms, relations — I can never see the mystery coming to an end.' Major Harrison first encountered Peploe's work at an exhibition in Glasgow in 1921 and was captivated by his still lifes. He became a close friend and patron of Peploe and the other Scottish Colourists, and built a remarkable collection of their works. Harrison considered all four artists 'equally great, each in his own special way' and hung their work in Croft House side by side 'in glorious harmony'. Saltire News and Sport Ltd SJ Peploe Roses in a Green Jug_02.jpg ROSES IN A GREEN JUG, A STILL LIFE PAINTING BY THE SCOTTISH COLOURIST ARTIST SAMUEL JOHN PEPLOE, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO FETCH £250,000-350,000 AT AUCTION IN EDINBURGH, THE CITY WHERE IT WAS PAINTED ALMOST EXACTLY A CENTURY AGO, AROUND 1925. SEE STORY FROM GEORGE MAIR, SALTIRE NEWS, 07703 172 263 Tel: Mobile: 07703 172 263 E-mail: george@ PHOTO Saltire News and Sport Ltd Like this: Like Related
