Works by eminent Scottish artists for sale this week at Edinburgh church to raise money for Christian Aid

THIS year's Christian Aid book sale at St Andrew's and St George's West Church in George Street had to be cancelled in May because of Covid, but now the church is to go ahead with its annual sale of pictures featuring works from several eminent Scottish artists.

Silk-screen print by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi

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 are among the highlights.

The sale – now in its tenth year – takes place from Thursday to Saturday this week. Special arrangements are in place to make it as safe as possible in line with Scottish Government guidelines, with social distancing, limited numbers of people allowed into the church at any one time and hand sanitisers placed around the building.

Other works in the sale include a small pencil drawing by Walter Sickert, an abstract print by Romanian artist Paul Neagu who was part of Edinburgh’s art scene in the 1970s, and a picture of the Union Canal in 1888.

Ann Oram’s ‘The Botanics in Winter’

Scottish art historian Professor Duncan Macmillan said: “Pictures need to be seen to live, but some of this impressive collection have no doubt been hidden in attics, storerooms and dark places. Donating them now to be seen and sold serves a very good cause, but also bring the pictures back to life. It’s win-win.”

Head of Christian Aid Scotland, Sally Foster-Fulton, said: “This year has been hugely challenging for us all and though we’re far from back to normal we are grateful this event can allow people an opportunity to browse and purchase a painting while raising money for Christian Aid.

“The money raised will go towards our Autumn Appeal, which is highlighting our work in countries like Nicaragua in South America where communities have joined forces to overcome the crises of poverty and injustice. And it’ll support our ongoing work in some of the world’s poorest countries, helping our global neighbours, who like us are facing additional challenges caused by coronavirus but in really fragile contexts, with no access to the basics, like clean water and soap and with no safety net or NHS.”

The sale is open 10am-5pm on Thursday and Friday and 10am-3pm on Saturday. A small number of specialist Scottish books are being sold via an online catalogue.

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