A PAINTING of an historic Whitehaven landmark by renowned West Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly has been repatriated from the United States.

The picture of Whitehaven’s Wellington Pit and Candlestick Chimney is now in the Cockermouth art gallery that championed Kelly’s work.

The ink and watercolour work was sold in 2012 to a New York collector at a major London exhibition of the Workington-born artist, who lived from 1918 to 1993.

Now Castlegate House Gallery owner Steve Swallow has brought it home to Cumbria and it is currently on display in the gallery with an £11,000 price tag.

Steve said: “This is a fabulous painting with specific local interest by one of the county’s, if not the north’s, leading art talent of the last century.

“It was acquired from the Castlegate/Messums exhibition in London of 2012 and taken all the way to New York state; we thought it our duty to bring it home and that’s exactly what we did.”

The gallery also acquired a second Percy Kelly from the same source.

The “fascinating” gouache on paper Cornish harbour scene is in a “very rare abstract” style and clearly shows Percy’s interest in the works of celebrated English abstract painter Ben Nicholson, said Steve.

The two paintings are on show until November 7 as part of Castlegate’s current exhibition, ‘Entry to Autumn’, featuring recently acquired works as well as new works from some of the gallery’s regular artists.

The gallery specialises in the best of 20th century and contemporary British art. It was bought by Steve and Christine Swallow in 2012.