By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 15:45, Tuesday, 01 March 2011

A new world record for a painting by Cumbrian artist Winifred Nicholson could be set at auction next week.

Sea Treasures

The 1952 picture Sea Treasures is expected to fetch between £50,000 and £70,000 at Bonhams in London on Wednesday, March 9.

When another 1952 Scottish-inspired Nicholson picture Over The Sea To Eigg came up for sale at Christie's in London on June 8 2007 it was given similar pre-sale estimates – £40,000 to £60,000 – but went for £168,000, making it the most valuable Nicholson work sold at auction.

Nicholson, who lived and worked near Brampton for nearly 60 years, from 1924 until her death in 1981,was 58 when she painted Sea Treasures. The oil painting depicts the view towards the Hebridean islands of Eigg and Rhum, which Nicholson conjured from the windowsill of the home of writer Gavin Maxwell.

Nicholson moved to Cumbria in 1924, when she bought Bankshead, a stone farmhouse built over the remains of a Roman mile-castle on Hadrian's Wall.

She had strong connections with Cumbria. Her father, Charles Roberts, who lived at Boothby, Brampton, was chairman of Cumberland County Council between 1938 and 1958, and her maternal grandfather was the ninth Earl of Carlisle.

Nicholson continued to live in Cumbria after the break-up of her 18-year marriage to artist Ben Nicholson, who subsequently married sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

First published at 11:45, Tuesday, 01 March 2011
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk