In the month that saw the UK’s record-breaking heatwave, it’s appropriate that a local work of art called Flaming June has been a big hit at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition.

The photograph by Teignmouth artist Anna Grayson is a pastiche of the painting of the same name by Frederic Lord Leighton. While the original depicts a sleeping woman curled up on a Mediterranean terrace, Anna’s Flaming June is an exhausted ‘bag lady’ on a Teignmouth beach balcony with two Sainsbury’s carriers at her feet.

Since the exhibition opened on June 16, all but 21 of the 80 limited-edition prints of the photo have been reserved, with lines of ‘sold’ stickers complementing the vibrant red and orange tones of the image.

Anna said: “I knew it would go down well, but I didn’t expect it to be such a rip-roaring success.”

She has been featured in the Summer Exhibition several times in the last 12 years, but has never sold more than 36 prints before.

She said: “Visitors to the exhibition tell me they ‘like art that makes them smile’. They say, ‘We all need a cheer-up in these uncertain times’. Well, Teignmouth is providing that cheer!”

People have also commented on the special quality of the light captured in Anna’s photo, which was taken early in the morning at Eastcliff. It was shot with a ‘proper’ camera, and has not been enhanced with AI or photo editing techniques.

The model for ‘Flaming June the Bag Lady’ was a friend who Anna has known since they were both aged about 11. Anna said: “She came with me to the private view, and we were inundated with interest.”

Since then Anna has also been inundated with emails from people wanting to buy limited edition prints of Flaming June, which are being sold for £155. The photo itself has also been sold.