The Bonhams Scottish Art sale (part 1) was launched yesterday featuring some very notable arts of work shown below.
The Burns portrait dates from the winter of 1786-7, during the writer’s first stay in Edinburgh. Although the 27 year old Burns was still farming with his brother Gilbert in his native Ayrshire he was also establishing a literary reputation, having published, in July 1786, his first volume of poetry – the celebrated Kilmarnock Edition. He had gone to Edinburgh to arrange the second or Edinburgh Edition, brought out by the publisher William Creech in April 1787. The painting is conservatively estimated at £5,000-7,000.
Samuel Peploe’s – “Still Life of Mixed Roses in Chinese Vase (£200,000 – £300,000) was painted at a pivotal moment in the artist’s career. In the 1900s Peploe and his fellow Colourist, George Hunter, explored still-life painting a genre for which there was no established tradition in British art. These early, pre First World War, still-life paintings were on a small scale and featured everyday dark objects against a dark background, much influenced by the Dutch masters and Manet. After his return from Paris in 1912, Peploe became more experimental, employing greater colour vibrancy and dramatic form.
These and many other paintings are now available for public viewing at Bonhams until the sale date on Monday 20th August.
Thomas Haywood is a freelance photographer producing great royalty-free images in Scotland.
