Lost art goes under the hammer
Published on: 15-Nov-2007
A collection of long lost paintings by an Australian landscape artist have been sold for thousands of dollars. The pictures by Isabel McWhannell had been gathering dust in a house in Sydney until being discovered by her great nephew James Morrow.
He had been cleaning out the property after the last of his aunts left the house in 2004.
Around 80 of McWhannell's watercolours and oil paintings were found, 33 of which have just been sold for between $4,400 and $8,800 after being exhibited in a gallery.
Mr Morrow, talking to the Daily Telegraph in Australia, said he had no idea they were in the house although his mother was aware they did exist.
He said: "In one of the rooms we found a lot of these canvases just lying there and that's when I thought, well hell, we have got to do something about this.
"We found them all over the place, in cupboards and drawers."
Although the artist, who died aged 36 in 1919, does not even rate a mention in online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, curator Geoffrey Smith, who opened the exhibition, said the works were "a missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of Australian art".
Can't find art to match your decor? You can now...
