However, Wood also executed a number of watercolours of golfing subjects, such as this signed and dated 1933 watercolour, right, of the links at Gullane, East Lothian, offered by the Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) in the otherwise run-of-the-mill picture section of their July 10 golf and sporting sale.
Measuring 91/2 by 2ft 5in (24 x 73cm), this panoramic view of one of Scotland’s oldest seaside golf courses was in an altogether
different price league from Wood’s normal repertoire and it was knocked down to a Scottish collector at a mid-estimate £11,000.
Value leap is par for the course
Golf has always been a subject that can have a dramatic effect on the price levels of artists who normally make little impact in the salerooms. Take the case of Frank Watson Wood (1862-1953), a Berwick-on-Tweed watercolourist who specialised in landscapes and marines, the best examples of which fetch around £1500 at auction.
