Cursiter painting sells for £22,500 at London auction

An oil painting by renowned Orcadian artist, Stanley Cursiter, sold for £22,500 at an auction in London today.                         

The picture, titled Along The Cliffs, was painted by Mr Cursiter in 1949, the year after he retired as Director of the National Galleries of Scotland.

Before the auction, at Sotheby’s in London today the picture had been expected to sell for between £20,000 and £30,000.    

Stanley Cursiter born in Kirkwall on April 29, 1887. He went on to become King George VI’s and the present Queen’s painter and limner in Scotland, a prestigious position he held for nearly thirty years, from 1948 until his death on April 22, 1976, just one week before what would have been his eighty ninth birthday. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of his death.

Most of his major works are on public display in galleries across the United Kingdom.

Earlier this year an oil canvas by Mr Cursiter, The Ribbon Counter, smashed previous sales records for his work selling for £338,500.