A PAINTING of scantily-clad young women once owned by Grimsby trawler owner Sir Alec Black could fetch up to $1 million dollars at auction in New York – and set a new world record.
The 5ft by 3ft picture, entitled The Painted Bridge, was created in oil by Edinburgh artist Sir William Russell Flint in or around 1923, just a few years before Sir Alec divorced his wife.
The trawling magnate worked his way up from the back streets of the town to become one of Grimsby's most famous, successful and dynamic characters.
When he died, aged 69 on June 28, 1942, he left £250,000 and his money is still helping poor people in Grimsby today, more than 70 years after his death.
It is not known how or when Sir Alec obtained the painting, or when he sold it, but it was painted four years before he divorced his wife, Florence, in 1927.
Now, it is going under the hammer at world-famous auction house Christie's, in the Big Apple, on April 29, with an estimate of between $700,000 and $1 million – £450,000 and £650,000 in sterling.
If the picture does sell as expected, it will set a new world auction record for a Russell Flint picture.
James Hastie, senior director and senior specialist of the 19th Century European Art department at Christie's in New York, said: "The Painted Bridge is arguably one of the most beautiful and most effective paintings by Sir William Russell Flint. One of the largest works in Flint's oeuvre, The Painted Bridge shows three timeless beauties and is the artist's interpretation of The Three Graces.
"Knighted by King George VI in 1947, Sir William Russell Flint is regarded as one of the greats of British 20th century art."
It is probable that the painting was one of many valuable items owned by Sir Alec.
Sir Alec Black's Charity, administered by law firm Wilson Sharpe and Co, of Osborne Street, Grimsby, was set up after he died.
It continues to help sick and poor people employed or formerly employed as fishermen or dock workers in or from Grimsby and it also supplies free bed linen to the sick and infirm.
It also supported former employees of Sir Alec; the sole surviving ex-member of his staff died last year, aged 90.
Stewart Wilson, from the accountancy firm, said: "One of the primary purposes of the charity is the purchase of bed linen and down pillows of the finest quality for charitable hospitals and institutions caring for the sick and infirm.
"The inclusion of this clause by Sir Alec was a legacy of a miserable night he had spent in a hospital near Stevenage, where the sheets were coarse and the pillows hard."
Keep checking your Telegraph for the result of the auction.
