£1,000 reward after theft from gallery
Twenty two new works by a popular Spanish artist have gone on show in Morpeth - but the gallery owners would like it to be 23.
A painting by Royo, valued at £15,000, is still missing after being stolen from the walls of the Tallantyre Gallery in Morpeth in July.
Coinciding with the new exhibition, gallery owner Martin Tallantyre has offered a £1,000 reward for the safe return of the painting, called Floral Blouse.
Yesterday Mr Tallantyre said security had been improved at the gallery since the theft.
He said: "The painting is going to have limited value because every auction house and every gallery that has ever sold Royo's work has been supplied with an image of the painting.
"If it ever does turn up anywhere for sale, they will recognise it as stolen. I'm just hoping someone will return the painting safely to us."
Today's opening of the exhibition by Royo is expected to attract a large and enthusiastic audience, including some Royo fans from Ireland where the Tallantyre Gallery exhibits regularly at art fairs.
Royo, who was born in Valencia in 1945 and started painting at the age of nine, specialises in richly coloured and textured paintings of beautiful women.
Mr Tallantyre said: "We've been selling his work for more than 20 years now but the maximum number of his paintings we have ever had in the gallery at any one time is four or five.
"This is the first one-man show he's had here. He exhibits a lot in New York, Florida and Japan, where his main markets are, and he always attends the exhibition openings there.
"But we do sell six or seven of his paintings every year and I think he thought it was time we had a big show of our own."
Despite prices ranging from £8,000 to £37,000, Mr Tallantyre expected business to be brisk.
"In the current economic climate everything is unknowable," he said.
"But in the last two weeks business has been fantastic. People seem to be taking their money out of banks and putting it into paintings."
Royo's Mediterranean Light exhibition opened at the Tallantyre Gallery on Saturday and runs until next Saturday. Admission is free.
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