George Wylie’s seagull sculpture up for auction

The metalwork, which is appropriately nicknamed ‘George’, was gifted to a friend by the sculptor after he helped Wyllie with an installation at the Glasgow Garden Festival in the 1980’s.

The seagull, which is painted white with an orange beak, is believed to be one of two produced by Wyllie to sit alongside his ‘Funnel’ installation and when the festival was over it was given to his good friend as a thank you.

For the past quarter of a century George has watched over the Gourock Yacht Club from his perch on Moorfield Road.

It is estimated to sell for between £1,000 to £2,000 at McTear’s Scottish Contemporary Art Auction on Sunday 2 February.

Brian Clements, McTear’s managing director, said today: “This is a classic example of George Wyllie’s work and like many of his pieces, brings a smile to your face every time you see it.

“Over the decades George Wyllie has built up an international following and his works can now be found in prestigious galleries and private collections across the world.

“George the seagull is a wonderful piece of art and I have no doubt he will fly high when the bidding starts on Sunday.”

Glasgow-born Wyllie, who died in 2012 aged 90, produced a number of iconic works during his lifetime including his 80ft long Paper Boat, which famously sat on New York’s Hudson River in 1990 and the Straw Locomotive which hung from Glasgow’s Finnieston Crane in 1987.

A major retrospective of the artist’s work, In Pursuit of the Question Mark, attracted thousands of art lovers to Glasgow’s Mitchell Library at the end of 2012.