A PAINTING from a cruise ship in Weymouth bay has been sold by Dorchester Art Gallery in a bizarre twist of fate.

In an extraordinary coincidence a prospective buyer contacted the gallery to enquire about a painting believed to have long since sold - Expect Miracles II by Julie-Ann Scott  - which later turned up on the Queen Mary II cruise ship anchored just a few miles out to sea in Weymouth Bay.

Dorset Echo: Expect Miracles II by Julie-Ann ScottExpect Miracles II by Julie-Ann Scott

The colourful abstract work had once hung in Dorchester Art Gallery, so gallery manager Georgia Heggs decided to try and trace its whereabouts for the customer.

Georgia said: “I thought the painting had probably sold and could be anywhere in the world but offered to do some research.

“It was quite weird - I rang Julie Ann’s studio and they said ‘We’ve managed to trace it to the Queen Mary cruise ship but we don’t know where it is.’ “I said; ‘We do - it’s in Weymouth - we’ve looking at it whilst eating ice-creams for the last few weeks’.”

At the time the Queen Mary II was moored at Weymouth Bay after the Government put a halt to cruises due to the pandemic.

However the painting was still for sale in the ship’s onboard gallery - and the buyer, who is from Yeovil, has purchased it for £1,475 and will collect it from Dorchester later this month.

Georgia thinks it is the bright colours of the painting that caught the customer’s eye.

“It’s finished in a resin glaze which makes the colours really stand out and ‘pop’,” she said. “There’s only one of them in the world so for it to come through Dorchester Art Gallery and for it to have been sat in Weymouth Bay on the Queen Mary was just so crazy. When everyone else had shut down we were selling artwork off ships in Portland Harbour - it’s quite weird.”

The spectacular Queen Mary II is part of the Cunard fleet and, along with sister liners Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, is part of an iconic trio of ships affectionately known as the ‘Three Queens’.

Once renowned for being the world’s largest passenger ship, the Queen Mary II is 1,132ft in length and arrived into Weymouth Bay in May.

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