‘Psychic’ painting treasured by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle could fetch 24k pounds
By ANITuesday, April 27, 2010
LONDON - A painting of the ghosts of dead soldiers, treasured by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle after the loss of his son in the First World War, has resurfaced as part of the vast collection of an Australian tycoon.
The work, called The Rearguard, depicts the spirits of Australians killed in the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War.
The ‘psychic’ oil painting, by Australian war artist Richard Longstaff, who was himself wounded at Gallipoli, portrays the beach at Gallipoli, where tens of thousands of Australian and allied servicemen died in 1915.
Longstaff claimed that he painted it after a vision of steel-helmeted spirits inspired him on a visit to the Menin Gate memorial in Flanders.
It was bought by Conan Doyle in 1928, reports the Scotsman.
The Sherlock Holmes creator, born in Edinburgh, became fascinated by spiritualism after the death of his son Kingsley, wounded in the Battle of the Somme.
He said of The Rearguard: “It is one of the most remarkable pictures I have ever seen.”
The painting is to be sold by Bonhams auctioneers in an Australian sale in June. It is expected to fetch 12-24,000 pounds. (ANI)
