Joan Eardley paintings fetch more than £220,000 in centenary year

In the same auction, Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Lady Carnegie sold for £100,000.
Joan Eardley seascape
Lucinda Cameron11 June 2021

Paintings by acclaimed artist Joan Eardley have sold for more than £220,000 at an online auction in the centenary year of her birth.

Pictures of children in the Townhead area of Glasgow still life work, landscapes and a seascape were among the seven pieces sold by Edinburgh-based Lyon & Turnbull.

A small seascape of Catterline, measuring just seven inches by seven inches, sold for £41,250, nearly six times the starting price, while her other works all achieved well above the estimated price.

Lyon & Turnbull said the Scottish paintings and sculpture sale on Thursday also saw a world record price for a painting by Scottish landscape artist Sir William MacTaggart.

His “jewel-toned” view of Palma in Majorca, painted in 1933, sold for £42,500 while Sir Henry Raeburn’s portrait of Lady Carnegie achieved £100,000.

Joan Eardley works sale
PA Media

Lyon & Turnbull’s Scottish paintings specialist Carly Shearer said: “This was another successful Scottish paintings and sculpture auction, with strong international bidding dominated by private buyers.

“The competition returned a record price for MacTaggart’s view of Palma and an extremely strong price for Raeburn’s portrait of Lady Carnegie.

“The selection of Joan Eardley paintings in celebration of her centenary year all sold well, particularly the tiny Catterline seascape. Her stunning late still life oil painting, Jar Of Summer Flowers, sold for £50,000.

“We have seen a dramatic increase in demand for Scottish paintings, which is generating some exceptional prices.”

The paintings by Eardley sold for £223,125 in total, with all prices including buyer’s premium.

Eardley, who is currently the subject of a year-long celebration of her life and work to mark 100 years since her birth, died aged just 42 in 1963.

Born in Sussex in 1921 to a Scottish mother and an English father, Eardley was considered a member of the post-war British avant-garde during her lifetime.

Eardley, who had a studio in Cochrane Street, Glasgow, is renowned for her pictures of children in the city, some of which also featured in the sale such as Children Playing In The Street, which sold for £16,875, well above the £4,000 to £6,000 estimate.

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