“One of the finest Victorian nude paintings” which was painted in Oldham, is hoping to fetch around £500,000 at auction. Andromeda, a 142 year old masterpiece by Sir Edward Poynter was once owned by wealthy Victorian cotton merchant Charles Lees of Werneth Park. He was well known for his interest in both religion and the arts.
The painting was then passed on to his widow, Dame Sarah Lees who was Oldham’s first female mayor. When she died in 1935, her daughter Marjory Lees, who was widely recognized as generous philanthropist in the area, inherited the painting. When Marjory died in 1970, the painting was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London, but only managed to fetch £750.
The painting is being auctioned at Sotherby’s again, but this time it is expected to have a price tag of £300,000 to £500,000. Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of Britain’s richest men and the world famous creator and writer of musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, is rumoured to want the 20ins x 14ins nude for his art collection. He is a fan of Edward Poynter’s work, and paid £551,500 in 1994 for the painter’s The Cave Of The Storm Nymphs, a painting described by Sotheby’s as “arguably the most erotic Victorian painting of nudes.”
The subject of the painting was Andromeda, a princess from Greek Mythology who was chained to a rock and left as a sacrifice to a sea monster, but Perseus saved her after slaying the gorgon Medusa.