Auction date for Sea Gulls masterpiece

A PAINTING considered one of the finest masterpieces of the 19th and early 20th century Scottish artist Robert Gemmell Hutchison, is set to fetch up to £180,000 at auction in the Capital later this month.

Sea Gulls and Sapphire Seas was painted in 1909 when the much-loved Edinburgh artist was aged 54 and at the height of his powers.

The masterpiece, in oils, which depicts four children in the sand dunes before a blustery blue sea and circling sea gulls, was exhibited by the artist at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, and sold in 1912 to Bolton Museum and Art Gallery for 150.

The 106cm x 166cm work, which was on permanent display, is being sold to raise vital funds for a modern storage facility at the cash-strapped gallery.

It will be a highlight of Bonhams' Annual Scottish Sale in Edinburgh on Wednesday, August 31.