limited edition lithograph on paper, signed and inscribed 'archive'
framed and under glass

Note 1: The Eyemouth disaster was caused by a storm off the south-eastern coast of Scotland in 1881 in which 189 fishermen, most of them from the fishing community of Eyemouth, were drowned after being driven onto the treacherous Hurkur rocks that lie outside Eyemouth harbour bay. This picture portrays a young mother with her child and an older woman waiting, almost certainly in vain, for her husband to return. Eyemouth was not only associated in Bellany’s mind with disaster; It was also the home of his much loved grandparents.
Note 2: Collector demand has never been higher for the work of John Bellany and numerous examples have been sold in recent months by both McTear's and others at ever more impressive prices. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 29th May 2022 "The Finnon Smoker" by Bellany sold for £80,000 (hammer) and in the same sale, "Bass Rock Fable" (a 76 x 61cm unframed oil) sold for £12,000 (hammer). In our 21st August 2022 auction, lot 137 "The Newspaper Hat" (a 61 x 51cm oil) sold for £9500 (hammer). "Like-for-like" auction prices for original paintings are usually difficult to assess, but in The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of April 2023, two Bellany paintings which had been acquired in our auctions in September and November 2014 were consigned for sale by the same owner. The original 2014 selling prices were £1800 and £4000 and the same paintings sold in April for £3800 and £7000 (all hammer prices). This equates to a growth in value of 86.2% in fewer than nine years. In The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction of 25th May 2023, lot 282, "Restless Wave" a 90 x 90cm oil (by Bellany) sold for £9000 (hammer) and in our auction of 9th November, lot 92, "Harbour" a 90 x 120cm oil by Bellany sold for £11000 (hammer). Most recently, "The Players" lot 50 in our auction of 28th March 2024 sold for £30000 (hammer).