A Cheshire masterpiece by one of the country’s most famous artists has been acquired by Macclesfield’s Gateway Gallery, and it is believed to be the only picture the Scottish artist John Bellany painted in England, apart from a depiction of Berwick on Tweed.
The painting which was acquired from a private collection by the gallery, depicts Birtles Old Hall and was painted by Bellany when he visited the Nether Alderley house to see his close friend Lord Tim Hudson, an eccentric former DJ who became one of the painter’s major patrons.

Hudson was delighted to see the painting again, and said Bellany had left the roof off, as he felt that the hall was so filled with light that it’s roof must have been transparent.

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