28.10.04
BBC
Painting fetches double at auction
Sir John Lavery's The Goose Girls was unknown
A previously unknown painting by Northern Ireland-born painter Sir John Lavery has fetched twice its estimated price at auction.
Auctioneer Christie's announced in July that The Goose Girls was discovered during a routine valuation at a cottage in Scotland.
The work belonged to an unnamed woman in her 60s, and was brought into the family by her grandfather.
It was sold to a UK-based bidder for £386,050 at auction at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Art experts had no idea that the medium-sized oil painting even existed before this.
Lavery, a leading member of the influential Glasgow Boys artists group, painted the canvas in 1885 on his return to Glasgow from Grez-sur-Loing in France.
Common theme
The painting's theme of the fairy-tale goose girl was common at the time.
Six years ago, Lavery's early-period painting, The Birds At Grez, was auctioned for £1.2m, and The Goose Girls dates from the same period.
It went on show at the auctioneer's annual Scottish sale, alongside works including a rare watercolour by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which was also unveiled to the public for the first time.
Works by the Scottish Colourists, including another rediscovered work by George Leslie Hunter and pieces by contemporary artist Jack Vettriano, were also being auctioned.
Bernard Williams, director of Christie's Scotland, said: "We are thrilled because it made more than we expected and our expectations were initially quite high and it sold to the person we expected would probably buy it."
Painting fetches double at auction
Sir John Lavery's The Goose Girls was unknown
A previously unknown painting by Northern Ireland-born painter Sir John Lavery has fetched twice its estimated price at auction.
Auctioneer Christie's announced in July that The Goose Girls was discovered during a routine valuation at a cottage in Scotland.
The work belonged to an unnamed woman in her 60s, and was brought into the family by her grandfather.
It was sold to a UK-based bidder for £386,050 at auction at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Art experts had no idea that the medium-sized oil painting even existed before this.
Lavery, a leading member of the influential Glasgow Boys artists group, painted the canvas in 1885 on his return to Glasgow from Grez-sur-Loing in France.
Common theme
The painting's theme of the fairy-tale goose girl was common at the time.
Six years ago, Lavery's early-period painting, The Birds At Grez, was auctioned for £1.2m, and The Goose Girls dates from the same period.
It went on show at the auctioneer's annual Scottish sale, alongside works including a rare watercolour by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which was also unveiled to the public for the first time.
Works by the Scottish Colourists, including another rediscovered work by George Leslie Hunter and pieces by contemporary artist Jack Vettriano, were also being auctioned.
Bernard Williams, director of Christie's Scotland, said: "We are thrilled because it made more than we expected and our expectations were initially quite high and it sold to the person we expected would probably buy it."
