A PAINTING by a Greenock-born artist has fetched £74,500 at auction.

The work by William Scott — entitled Blue Still Life — outshone expectations.

It had been tipped to go under the hammer for up to £60,000, but fetched a considerable sum more as it was sold at Christies in London.

It was bought by its present owner in 1958 from the Hanover Gallery in London and hasn’t been seen in public since then.

Val Boa, curator of the McLean Museum and Art Gallery, said: “Although it’s not a name that comes to mind, William Scott had an international reputation.

“He was born in Greenock in 1913 and died fairly recently in 1989.

“His son, who works in the film industry in America, produced a catalogue of his work to make his centenary last year.

“There’s a little bit about his life in Greenock. He was very prolific.

“There was also a film made about his life — which featured the late actress Natasha Richardson.” The work consists of two bowls and beaker shapes in a black-blue space.

Expert Val describes the artist’s style as ‘quite pared down, simple and getting to the core of the subject’.

The museum has a Scott print donated from the Scottish Arts Council but none of the artist’s original work.

It is understood he and his family moved to Northern Ireland.

Val added: “Hopefully more people will hear about his work when they see the painting was on sale, and it will raise consciousness about someone with a fabulous reputation in England and abroad, whose early years in Greenock were quite formative.”