Turner painting expected to fetch up to £800k

Sunrise Over The Sea is estimated to sell at auction for up to £800,000

A JMW Turner painting of what is thought to be Margate seaside is estimated to sell at auction for up to £800,000.

Sunrise Over The Sea features yellow, orange and blues to capture the changing sunlight over the seaside.

The watercolour painting is believed to have been created by the British artist in the later years of his career, before he died in 1851, aged 76.

It will be sold at Christie's auction house in London on 4 July, with an estimated price tag of £600,000 to £800,000.

Sunrise Over The Sea features yellow, orange and blues to capture the changing sunlight over the seaside

Turner’s earliest connection with Margate, Kent, can be traced back to the 1780s, when he was a teenager.

But it was from the early 1830s that the artist revisited the seaside town while he was researching scenes for artwork and became a regular visitor.

The Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate now sits on the site of the boarding house where he stayed during his visits.

The Sunrise Over The Sea artwork was previously owned by Turner’s landlady in Margate, Sophia Caroline Booth.

Art collector Walter Brandt later acquired the piece.

Harriet Drummond, of Christie’s, said: “This remarkably well-preserved and ravishingly beautiful drawing is an exceptional example of the boldly expressive watercolours Turner made in his final years.”