
A unique painting of the Titanic will be auctioned off next week to raise money for charity.
The picture of Belfast’s ill-fated liner is the work of Belfast-based artist Rita Duffy and has been painted on dozens of old pay cheques from the Harland and Wolff shipyard — where the Titanic was built.
The cheques, dated in 1977, were payments made to recipients of the Harland and Wolff pension scheme.
The painting, entitled Squall, will form part of the War on Want Northern Ireland art aid exhibition and auction, which is being held on Wednesday, April 29, at Ross’ Auctions in Belfast.
Rita found her unusual canvas in the old Harland and Wolff drawing offices while working on last year’s Royal Ulster Academy of Arts annual exhibition.
She said: “The old cheques made me think of all the local people who built Titanic and the shapes of the cheques themselves reminded me of the sheets of plate metal the Titanic was made from.
“For me, this is both a global and a local piece. Global because of the world-wide impact of Titanic and local because of all of the people in Belfast who made it.”
The charity exhibition will raise funds to support War on Want’s work in Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania.
More than 30 paintings will be on view from April 27 to April 29 at Ross’ Auction House.
Jon D’Arcy, chairman of KPMG’s Belfast practice, the exhibition’s main sponsor, said: “War on Want NI works tirelessly to bring positive changes to the lives of some of the world’s poorest people.
“The funds raised at the auction will provide much needed support to enable these communities to lift themselves out of poverty.”