* JOHN BELLANY CBE RA HRSA (SCOTTISH 1942 - 2013)
BOATBUILDING, PORT SETON (1964)

oil on board, signed, titled labels verso
framed

image size 57cm x 79cm, overall size 75cm x 95cm

Handwritten label verso
Provenance: Sold McTear's The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction 10th November 2014.
Note: It is well established that John Bellany painted on hardboard or wood until 1969 and almost never thereafter. The transition to using canvas was ``a struggle`` for several months and his style of painting evolved into a more modern and overtly expressionist style. More precisely, the completion of his second triptych ``Homage To John Knox`` (1969) was almost the last time he used board. This very specific point in Bellany`s career is hugely significant as it defines his early body of work which is noted for meticulous handling of paint and glazes. His use of cool colours reflects the harsh and cold conditions of the fishing villages he grew up in. His early work often combines an element of realism with a sense of mystery and even hauntedness and his characteristic bland backgrounds from this period contrast strongly with his later work. The commercial and academic appreciation of Bellany`s pre 1969 ``on board`` work, whilst always strong, has increased since his sad death in 2013 and subsequent auction results reflect this with figures of £24,000 (hammer), £49,250 (premium) and £57,500 (premium) all being achieved in 2014 for pre 1969 examples of varying sizes. Further impressive auction sales have continued to be achieved including in 2022 when "The Finnon Smoker" sold for £80,000 (hammer) in The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction. The respected art establishment figure Charles Booth-Clibborn of Paragon Press who knew John Bellany and commissioned work from him sold ``Boatbuilding, Port Seton`` to a previous owner with a handwritten letter dating the work to 1964 (as documented in the lot notes in 2014). "Boatbuilding, Port Seton" is one of two of the same fundamental scene. The other painting, a slightly larger 90cm x 120cm oil on board "Fishing Boat" is in The Scottish Government Art Collection. There are a considerable number of differences between the two pictures but perhaps the most interesting being the small dark figure of a man wearing a hat and walking with a stick to the left of the bows of the two boats. We don`t know who this figure is but it`s possible that it`s Bellany`s grandfather (who owned a boatbuilding yard). In the version belonging to The Scottish Government Art Collection, this same figure is now almost obscured by the bow of the rear boat. This may have strong symbolic meaning relating to the passing of time or indeed, the passing of whoever the figure might be. However, nothing was ``without significance`` with Bellany and the ``progression`` of this figure between the two paintings enables us to be very confident that the SGAC picture is a later version of the painting offered here.
Note 2: John Bellany's work is included in The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) New York, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, The Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, Tate Britain, London and at numerous other prestigious public collections around the world. UK public collections feature 279 examples of his work. His well known enthusiastic and long term collectors included David Bowie and Damien Hirst. In 2003 Damien Hirst praised Bellany as "one of the major painters of the twentieth century." John Bellany was awarded a CBE (1994) and honorary degrees from the Universities of Edinburgh (1996) and Heriot-Watt (1998).
Note 3: 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" (oil on board) 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 difficult 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) and in our auction of 9th November, lot 92 (2023), "Harbour" a 90 x 120cm oil by Bellany sold for £11000 (hammer). More recently, "The Players" (oil on board) lot 50 in our auction of 28th March 2024 sold for £30000 (hammer).