Eric William Ravilious: 'Missing' painting to go on show

Mackerel Sky by Eric William Ravilious was sold a year after it was painted, and was not seen in public for decades

A painting by one of the UK's finest watercolour artists that was "considered missing" for 82 years is to be put on display.

Mackerel Sky by Eric William Ravilious was sold to a private collector for 15 guineas in 1939.

The current owner is loaning it to Hastings Contemporary art gallery for its Seaside Modern Exhibition.

Curator and art historian James Russell said the painting reappearing was "exciting news for Ravilious fans".

"This 1938 gem, Mackerel Sky, was considered missing for years but has now resurfaced and will feature in my exhibition," added Mr Russell in a tweet.

The Seaside by William Roberts forms part of the Seaside Modern Exhibition

The work, which measures 29ins by 21ins (75cm by 55cm), is estimated to be worth at least £250,000, according to gallery experts.

In 2018, another Ravilious work, which had not been seen since the war years, was sold for a similar price.

Ravilious, who grew up in East Sussex, was a war artist who was also famous for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landscapes.

Rye Harbour, by Ravilious in 1938, will feature in the exhibition

Mackerel Sky is one of about 30 Ravilious paintings dating from the 1920s and 1930s which the art community could not confirm were still in existence, as many of his paintings went missing or were destroyed during World War Two.

Ravilious died aged 39 in 1942 when the aircraft he was in disappeared off Iceland.

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham's untitled (view of St Ives) in 1943 will feature in the exhibition

Hastings Contemporary will reopen on 27 May. The exhibition will explore the relationship between artists and the beach from the 1920s to 1970s.

A spokesman for the gallery said it marked the "beginning of summer and the hopeful and happy return to a better way of life".

Photograph of a beached tree in Perros-Guirec, France by Eileen Agar, 1936, also features in the exhibition

Paintings, sculptures and drawings will be on show, from artists including L.S. Lowry, Richard Eurich, Paul Nash, Laura Knight, William Roberts, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

Liz Gilmore, director of Hastings Contemporary, said: "We are determined to support the cultural recovery nationally and the economy and tourism locally."

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