US teenager sells off family treasure to support Highland museum
The painting could fetch up to £5,000 at auction.
A beautiful painting by revered Scottish landscape and portrait artist is being auctioned off by a US teenager to raise funds for a Highland museum
The work by Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840) is valued at between £3,000 and £5,000 and is being sold to support the redevelopment of West Highland Museum in Fort William.
Amelia Cimbalo, from Virginia, has put the painting up for auction through her charity America Friends of Highland Culture, which aims to “educate and inspire a deeper appreciation for Highlands heritage” actively support organisations in the north of Scotland.
She set up the charity for her final Girl Scouts project.
Ms Cimbalo said: "The painting has been hanging in our house for five years and it is a painting that my dad thought would be very good for this because it is by a Scottish artist, and it is small enough to be shipped out. “
Money raised from the sale by auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull will help the museum reach the £6.2m it needs to embark on a major upgrade. The museum has a large collection of items linked to the Jacobite and Lochaber’s role in the 18th Century risings.
Amelia has been coming to Scotland on holiday every summer since she was a child and she and her father, Jeff, are passionate about the Scottish Highlands and its heritage.
They are frequent visitors to the West Highland Museum, where Ms Cimbalo also volunteers.
Ms Cimbalo said: "Scotland is my second home. I love coming to the Highlands and to the Museum, which celebrates the rich history and culture of the West Highlands.
"I really wanted to make a contribution to the Museum’s future and am so excited to see what the painting fetches at auction."
Mr Cimbalo added: “I’m so proud of Amelia and of her drive and determination to set up the charity to benefit a whole range of causes, beginning with the West Highland Museum.
"We’ll both be on tenterhooks on the day of the auction.”
The painting is being sold by Lyon & Turnbull in its Scottish Paintings auction, with the sale also running online.
Nasmyth, who famously painted a portrait of his friend Robert Burns, is celebrated as a founder of the Scottish landscape tradition, with the painting - Travellers on a Country Path, Possibly Ayr Beyond - likely to attract considerable interest.
West Highland Museum now attracts more than 60,000 visitors a year and needs to “urgently” grow its premises.
The museum recently welcomed Outlander author Diana Gabaldon to learn about its planned expansion plans and fundraiser.
Ms Gabaldon, whose hugely popular Outlander series is partly set around the time of the 1745Jacobite Rising, said she fully supported the museum as it looked to the future.
Ms Gabaldon said: “I loved the museum, it is beautiful. It has enormous numbers of fascinating things, which are all very well curated.
“There is a lot of stuff and it is quite a small building and the exhibits are quite close together. So the problem is there is not a lot of room for people to move around in great numbers. I am very happy to support the expansion.”
READ MORE: Sign up to Hay’s Way and follow our rural affairs correspondent as she walks around Scotland
Alice Strang, Lyon & Turnbull’s Senior Fine Art Specialist, said: "What an amazing Girl Scout Amelia is, to have established not only a charity for her final Scout project, but one that will support Highland heritage.
"’Travellers on a Country Path, Possibly Ayr Beyond’ is a gem of a painting by one of Scotland’s most important artists and its sale will help the West Highland Museum’s exciting redevelopment plans."
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.