The 16 x 20in (40 x 50cm) oil on board, dated 1958 and titled Malta, sold for £12,900, over four times its top estimate on May 24 in Aylsham, Norfolk. The buyer is based in Malta.
The picture came from an estate sale and had previously passed through the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol, where Trevelyan and his wife Mary Fedden sometimes showed their work.
Trevelyan first visited Malta in 1958 and was inspired by its dry stony landscape, particularly its abandoned limestone quarries. The composition’s distinctive horizontal lines are also found in his etchings from the so-called ‘Malta Suite’ portfolios, which major on the theme of quarries.
While the etchings themselves are rare and have made several thousand pounds on the secondary market, this appears to be the first time an original Maltese subject in oil has sold at auction.
