Art lovers will be given the unique opportunity to purchase a bit of history when the contents of the studio of renowned Angus artist Barbara Robertson come under the auctioneer’s hammer this weekend.
A variety of signed and unsigned artwork, as well as the tools and printing equipment she used to bring her quirky work to life, are included in the 440 lots.
The sale will mark the final chapter of the life of the popular artist whose distinctive work has been exhibited at home and abroad.
Her work often featured cats, hens, sheep and other animals, as well as Angus landscapes.
Everything from her early linocuts and lithographs, etchings and cards to the cast iron relief printing press she used in her Douglastown studio, will be sold on Saturday.
There is a large selection of signed and unsigned pieces of artwork, watercolours and pastels and cat calendars.
As well as the artwork, the artist’s sketch pads, arts and crafts supplies and tools – including brushes, screwdrivers, carved linoleum blocks, handheld print rollers and furniture – will also be sold.
Barbara, who died last July at the age of 72, was an original printmaker working mainly in the medium of linocut.
Over many years she perfected the specialised technique of relief printing in lino.
Born in Broughty Ferry, she trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee.
There, she gained her diplomas in printmaking and illustration and won a major travelling scholarship.
Her work has been exhibited in France and Germany and she had shown her prints in the Royal Scottish Academy since 1973.
Jonathan Taylor, saleroom manager of Taylor’s Auction Rooms in Montrose, where the sale will take place, confirmed there had been a keen interest from art lovers and artists.
He said: “Barbara was so well-known.
“Her work has a distinctive style, it’s humorous – there are lots of cats. We have had a lot of people asking about it and a lot of folk in looking at it.
“A lot of artists had been looking at some of the equipment. This is such a unique opportunity as it is her entire studio which is for sale – you don’t usually get that.
“Usually an artist will downsize, has sold off or binned their materials and tools but Barbara was working more or less up to the end.”
Saturday’s sale will commence at the Montrose sale-room at approximately 12.30pm.
