Painter tells of depression

ONE of Scotland’s greatest painters has revealed that he is recovering from a “hellish” period of depression that has lasted six years.

John Bellany, who survived a liver transplant in 1988 and a heart attack in 2005, told of his battle with the illness ahead of two major new shows.

John Bellany at 70 for the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh, which opens on August 13, will be followed by A Passion for Life, at the National Galleries of Scotland in November.

Currently living in Tuscany, Bellany, from Port Seton, said: “I have been through some collosal pain, and a six-year period of deep, deep depression which I am just coming out of.”