7 April 2009 |
Following yesterday's
exhibition opening, Since many of our clients lead busy professional
lives, we will be pleased The value of research and provenanceOne sometimes comes across a painting about which little is initially known but, with judicious research, one discovers is of considerable artistic and/or historic interest. The gradual reconstruction of both a work's underlying meaning and provenance (exhibition, literature and ownership) are two important considerations when buying and/or selling art. Not only do they increase one's appreciation of the work itself (which is of paramount importance) but they also help secure its resale potential. One such example of academic research regards the above oil sketch, which has been attributed to 'Circle of Augustus John'. We realised early on that it showed Augustus John, Family & Friends – but by whom and who did it specifically depict? As a preparatory oil sketch, executed in haste during an outdoor group sitting, the work's authorship proved difficult to pin down with certainty due to its lack of clear stylistic (and thus recognisable) traits. The nature of the group suggests it is unlikely to have been painted by any of those portrayed although it does show certain stylistic influences of both Augustus John and the artist Henry Lamb, RA (Australian, 1883-British, 1960) - or, indeed, the Chilean painter Álvaro Guevara (1894-1951) who is known to have stayed with John and Lamb on a number of occasions (and tended to depict figures in the slightly elongated way shown in parts of this painting). John and Henry Lamb rented Alderney Manor, near Parkstone in Dorset, in 1911, and, with John's extended family, led a highly bohemian and eccentric life there for the following 16 years. During this lengthy period they entertained an endless stream of visitors, some of whom were invited, others who just dropped in and would stay for days, months, and even years. It became a regular 'haunt' for many of the Bloomsbury Group (Dorothy Eugenie Brett, Giles Lytton Strachey, Dora Carrington, Bertrand Russell, Percy Wyndham Lewis etc) and other more exotic characters who would make it their home, amongst them Álvaro Guevara. In 1927 John moved to Fryern Court in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, on the edge of the New Forest and the River Avon, which also became a 'stopping-off' point for artists travelling to the West Country. Assuming the landscape is realistic rather than fictitious the topography, including the sea in the distance, indicated a location in Dorset and Poole Museum have recently suggested "Canford Heath looking towards Poole harbour" as the possible location. So who is depicted? John is immediately recognisable
as the dark bearded figure to the immediate left of the central
female figure. It is reasonable to assume that Dorelia (his second
wife and lifelong muse) is depicted standing next to him, with
babe in arms. Equally, it is safe to assume that her sister,
Edie McNeil, an intimate member of the John family,
holds another child belonging to her sister and brother-in-law.
As part of the extended group (12 adults and 2 children), it
is most likely that Henry Lamb is also included and we believe
him to be portrayed in the pale green shirt. The Irish poet Francis
Mcnamara was also a regular visitor to Alderney Manor. In his
biography of Augustus John, Michael Holroyd describes Mcnamara
as being over six feet tall with golden hair and blue bright
eyes "who
carried himself like a conqueror". He
is also known to have had a distinctive goatee beard which appears
to be readily identifiable in the man wearing the red shirt.
Best wishes CHRIS NOEL-JOHNSON |
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