Rare Sister Painting of Monarch of the Glen to Auction in London
A lesser-known sister painting of Sir Edwin Landseer's iconic Monarch of the Glen is anticipated to fetch up to £4 million when it goes under the hammer in London next month.
Titled Scene in Braemar, the artwork depicts a 12-point stag poised on a Highland peak.
The painting was originally commissioned by railway magnate Edward Ladd Betts for his residence in Kent and has since passed through various private collections.
Its last auction appearance was in 1994, when it sold for £793,500.
Sotheby's currently estimates the sale price to be between £3 million and £4 million for the July auction.
Julian Gasgoine, senior director in Sotheby's paintings department, described the work as one of Landseer's great Highland masterpieces.
"Where the Monarch shows the stag in the brilliance of youth, this is a darker, more epic vision: majestic, charged with tension, and iconic in its vision of the Highlands,"Gasgoine said, calling it an atmospheric sister painting to the Monarch of the Glen, which is housed in the National Galleries of Scotland.
"It is rarely seen in public and among the most spectacular Landseers still in private ownership - monumental in scale and a true masterpiece by one of the greatest animal painters."
Sir Edwin Landseer was Queen Victoria's favourite artist and frequently stayed at Mar Lodge, near Balmoral.
Monarch of the Glen remains his most famous work and is one of the most recognisable and widely reproduced paintings in British art.
The image has been featured on various products, including whisky bottles and biscuit tins, and even appeared in the popular US television series Schitt's Creek.
The painting was on loan to the National Galleries for 17 years from the drinks company Diageo, which sought to sell it.
In 2017, a public fundraising campaign was launched to purchase the painting for £4 million, which was half the estimated auction price.
While the painting is undeniably striking, it has faced criticism for not representing a "real" Scotland.
Nevertheless, the campaign's success enabled funding to tour the painting around the country in a specially designed mobile art gallery, allowing widespread public engagement with the artwork they helped acquire.
"Masterly in Conception and Effect"
Though less well known, Scene in Braemar is significantly larger, measuring nearly 9 feet (2.74 meters) in height.
In 1859, industrialist Edward Betts was so impressed with the epic work that he paid £800, which was £200 above Landseer's requested fee.
However, a banking crisis forced Betts to sell the painting along with his entire collection in 1868.
At that time, Scene in Braemar set a record by selling for 4,000 guineas.
In 1857, The Times praised the painting as "masterly in conception and effect" and deemed it a worthy companion piece to Monarch of the Glen.
By 1868, the painting changed hands again when it was auctioned at Christie's and acquired by Henry William Ferdinand Bolckow.
Following Bolckow's death, 70 works from his collection, including Scene in Braemar, were sold in 1887.
Renowned author Beatrix Potter described the painting as "splendid" and highlighted Scene in Braemar as "one of the leading pictures."
The painting was later acquired by Sir Edward Cecil Guinness and remained in his family until its last auction appearance in 1994.
Scene in Braemar has been exhibited publicly on several occasions.
In 2005, it was displayed in Edinburgh alongside Monarch of the Glen during a major celebration of Landseer's work.
