this large 4 x 3ft (1.23m x 92cm) oil on linen painting produced a strong price for contemporary Welsh artist Shani Rhys-James (b.1953) when it went under the hammer at Mitchells in Cockermouth on December 1
Part of a large local consignment of pictures, Flowers 2, 2002, attracted enthusiastic bidding. It passed its conservative £1000-1500 estimate to sell to the UK trade for £7200 – among the top prices for the artist at auction.
Known for her melancholic selfportraits, Australia-born Rhys-James has spent most of her life in rural Wales where she has become one of the country’s best-selling female artists.