Sir Stanley Spencer painting purchased for £170 and set to sell for £400,000:

The oil painting by celebrated English artist Sir Stanley Spencer was purchased by the unnamed couple not long after he painted it in the early 1950s.

Entitled Potato Patch, Rostrevor, the 23ins by 20ins landscape of a colourful rural scene was painted by Spencer in Northern Ireland.

It was briefly exhibited before it was bought in 1952.Spencer was regarded as an early modernist and although his landscapes were in demand while he was alive, they didn't sell for vast sums.

It was only after his death in 1959 that prices for Spencer paintings took off and have escalated in the last decade.

The cause was helped by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson taking up a campaign to fund the restoration of his works of Port Glasgow's shipyards during World War Two in 2006.

The couple have happily hung the landscape of potato fields in their flat in Dorset for many years.
But they have decided to sell it now after learning that some works by Spencer were selling for six and even seven figure sums today.

Auctioneers have given the painting a pre-sale estimate of £400,000 - 100 times of its real value when it was bought 60 years ago. Guy Schwinge, of Duke's auctioneers of Dorchester, said: "Paintings by Spencer are represented in all the major art galleries and institutions around the world."It is unusual for a 20th century British painting of this quality to turn up at a provincial sale but there are a number of private collectors who are expected to compete for this painting.

"The couple who are selling the painting bought it from a London painting dealer in 1952.

"Although they didn't fully appreciate it, it has turned out to be a very sound investment as works by Spencer have shot up in value.

"Twentieth century British artists are very collectable at the moment. "The vendors have come to realise just how much his work is going for and got a bit nervous about having something so valuable hung up in their flat and that is why they are selling."

The auction takes place in Dorchester on April 11.

The above article refer to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/9961256/Lost-Sir-Stanley-Spencer-painting-bought-for-170-set-to-sell-for-400000.html

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