oil on canvas, signed
framed

image size 122cm x 92cm, overall size 13cm x 104cm

Note: After Bellany's 1988 life-saving liver transplant, his room at Addenbrooke's Hospital became full of flowers and plants sent by family, friends and loved ones. Bellany had escaped death and these flowers symbolized and celebrated ''life''. Bellany convalesced at Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire where he began a series of still life paintings, a subject which he'd never focused on before. This fine composition is a celebration of life, of family and of colour.
Note 2: Collector demand has never been higher for the work of John Bellany and numerous examples have been sold in recent months by both McTear's and others at ever more impressive prices. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 29th May 2022 "The Finnon Smoker" by Bellany sold for £80,000 (hammer) and in the same sale, "Bass Rock Fable" (a 76 x 61cm unframed oil) sold for £12,000 (hammer). In our 21st August 2022 auction, lot 137 "The Newspaper Hat" (a 61 x 51cm oil) sold for £9500 (hammer). "Like-for-like" auction prices for original paintings are usually difficullt to assess, but in The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of April 2023, two Bellany paintings which had been acquired in our auctions in September and November 2014 were consigned for sale by the same owner. The original 2014 selling prices were £1800 and £4000 and the same paintings sold in April for £3800 and £7000 (all hammer prices). This equates to a growth in value of 86.2% in fewer than nine years. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 25th May 2023, lot 282, "Restless Wave" a 90 x 90cm oil (by Bellany) sold for £9000 (hammer).