Glyn Philpot, R.A. 1884-1937

The Artist’s family
Private Collection, whence acquired by the present owner

London, Syrie Maugham Gallery, Glyn Philpot Exhibition, March 1935;
London, Hertford House, Exhibition of Works Selected for the 1940 Venice Biennale, May - June 1940, no.30.

A.C.Sewter, Glyn Philpot: 1884-1937, Batsford, London, 1951, illustrated plate 90;
Robin Gibson, Glyn Philpot 1884-1937: Edwardian Aesthete to Thirties Modernist, London, 1984, p.144, illustrated p.164;
J.G.P. Delaney, Glyn Philpot: His Life & Art, Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, 1999, pp.142 & 145.

The present work was the largest painting Philpot exhibited at his successful 1935 exhibition at Syrie Maugham’s new space on Bruton Street, although being held in an interior decorator’s premises rather than a traditional dealer’s gallery, it was completely overlooked by the critics. Syrie Maugham was the ex-wife of the writer Somerset Maugham and had been said to have been responsible for the late 1920s vogue for the off-white sitting room. She had become a friend, patron and introducer of new clients to Philpot and a large-scale painting such as this perfectly encapsulates the style of the modish interiors of the period. Philpot’s friend Jan Erland recalls their going to Kew Gardens together to draw the datura lilies that hang like lanterns across the top of the composition.

Although the painting is sometimes recorded as having been commissioned by Maugham, it was certainly for sale at the 1935 show, and was later installed by Philpot in the studio of 1, Marlborough Gate House, his last London flat, where it can be seen in a photograph taken by F.J.Gutmann for Philpot's 1937 Redfern Gallery exhibition.