Lord Provost takes a look at art sale in Edinburgh church

The Lord Provost admires some of the paintings at Christian Aid's sale of pictures with James Holloway, former director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, who is pictures convener for the sale.

The annual book sale at the church – thought to be one of the biggest charity book sales in the world – had to be cancelled in May because of Covid. But the smaller-scale annual art sale is going ahead with special arrangements in place to ensure social distancing.

The Lord Provost’s visit was one of only a handful of civic events he has attended in person since the lockdown in March. .

He said: “I’m delighted to visit St Andrew’s and St George’s West, a church Edinburgh City Council has a long history with. It’s great to see so much fantastic art on display, raising money for a very good cause and I do hope in these difficult times that the event is successful.”

The Lord Provost and retired Church of Scotland minister the Rev Peter Millar, in front of a silk-screen print by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi.

The sale, now in its tenth year, includes works by several eminent Scottish artists, including a silk-screen print by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, a painting by Ann Oram called The Botanics in Winter and prints by Richard Demarco and Peter Howson.

The Lord Provost bought a watercolour painting of Eilean Donan Castle, which he said was one of his favourite views.

Money raised by the sale will go towards Christian Aid’s autumn appeal, which is highlighting our work in countries like Nicaragua in South America where communities have joined forces to overcome crises of poverty and injustice.

The sale is open until 5pm today, 10am-5pm tomorrow and 10am-3pm on Saturday.

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