Major work of art to be auctioned

A painting by leading Scottish colourist John Duncan Ferguson is set to go under the hammer at Bonhams in Edinburgh next month.
The RainbowThe Rainbow
The Rainbow

The work, entitled The Rainbow, is expected to fetch in the region of £70,000 to £100,000 at the Scottish Art sale on Thursday, December 3.

The Rainbow was painted during Fergusson’s ‘Highland Tour’ which he undertook in 1922 with his closest friend, John Ressich.

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Embarking from Glasgow via Milngavie, they headed up the east coast to Aberdeen and then inland to Pitlochry, Loch Ness and over to the west coast, where they sailed around Skye. After heading to the Black Isle, they turned for home via Perthshire. Favourite spots included Loch Laggan, Arisaig and Loch Shiel, and some of his most topographical paintings to date were inspired by locations such as Glen Isla, Killiecrankie and Craig Coinach.

The trip produced 15 paintings which Ferguson worked up from sketches on his return and which were shown in his first solo exhibitions in Edinburgh and Glasgow the following year.

Bonhams head of Scottish Art, Chris Brickley said, “The Highland Tour paintings are remarkably positive and uplifting, but The Rainbow may also come as close to symbolism as he ever ventured.

‘‘The location has never been identified and the work has a ‘visionary’ quality which at the time was completely unmatched in modern Scottish painting.”

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