Historic Ludlow picture for sale
A picture of an historic Shropshire landmark by an artist who inspired Prince Charles to take up painting is expected to fetch up to £60,000 at auction later this month.
Edward Seago's View of Ludlow Castle is a rarity as the artist was Norfolk born and is better known for his pictures of his native East Anglia.
The oil painting will go under the hammer at an auction of English and Irish art at Sotheby's in London on May 22.
Ludlow Castle is one of England's finest medieval ruins and Seago, who said he was "attracted by the relics of the past", found it a perfect visual stimulus for a picture.
The work dates from the 1940s and portrays the view looking down onto the castle and surrounding countryside from a high vantage point.
Seago tended to used heavy impasto - thick, layered paint - for works of this size at that stage of his career.
Seago is one of Britain's best known and most widely collected 20th century artists, and people used to queue for his work, notably at Colnaghi's in 1945 and then at Marlborough Fine Art.
He was essentially a self-taught artist given guidance by Sir Alfred Munnings and Betram Priestman, but he developed his skill and technique from studying the British masters such as Constable.
As a young artist Seago was fascinated by the circus and the life of travellers and he even joined a circus for a while.
He was also interested in the stage and ballet but in time his love of pure landscape took priority.
Seago enjoyed generous patronage from numerous members of the royal family.
He was one of the official artists appointed to paint the Queen's Coronation and was invited by the Duke of Edinburgh on an expedition to Antarctica.
Prince Philip and Seago painted alongside each other on the deck of the Royal Yacht Britannia and became close friends.
