‘Connoisseur’ puts early painting of Fingal’s Cave on sale for £6,000
ONE of the earliest known paintings of Fingal’s Cave, dating to 1792, is going under the hammer.
The sea cave on the Hebridean island of Staffa was painted by English artist Nicholas Pocock. He is believed to have sketched it from a boat and then composed the work in pencil, pen, ink and watercolour in his studio.
The 230-year-old painting is expected to fetch £4,000-£6,000 as part of Christie’s online sale Dramas of Light and Land: The Martyn Gregory Collection of British Art.
The March 10-24 sale has 198 works which are expected to fetch up to £1,150,000 in total.
Collector Mr Gregory, 80, described as a ‘true connoisseur’, is scaling back his business.
Annabel Kishor of Christie’s London said: ‘Pocock’s painting is one of the earliest representations of Fingal’s Cave. He may well have depicted himself in his painting, in the rowing boat.’
Fingal’s Cave was named after an epic 18th century poem by James Macpherson. In Irish mythology, Fingal built a causeway between Ireland and Scotland. The cave has inspired artists, musicians, poets and writers for more than two centuries.
The dramatic entrance inspired Mendelsohn’s Hebrides Overture after he visited in 1829.
Sir Walter Scott described the cave as ‘one of the most extraordinary places I ever beheld’.
Other landscapes in the sale of Mr Gregory’s collection include The Pass of Glencoe by George Fennell Robson, and Dawn, Loch Torridon by William Turner.
It predominantly comprises works on paper from the 18th to 20th centuries.