Lot 18
  • 18

Augustus John, O.M., R.A. 1878-1961

Estimate
25,000 - 35,000 GBP
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Description

  • Augustus John, O.M., R.A.
  • notre dame de martigues
  • signed and dated 1910 
  • oil on board
  • 53.5 by 32cm., 21 by 12½in.

Provenance

Mrs Mary Neame
Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd, London

Exhibited

Johannesburg, British Council Fine Art Section, Empire Exhibition, no.320;
Leeds, Temple Newsam House, Augustus John, 1946, no.15;
London, Royal Academy, Augustus John, 1954, no.103.

Catalogue Note

Painted in 1910, the year of John's initial, joyous discovery of the Provencal town of Martigues. Glimpsed from a train en route to Italy, John referred to this enchanting town on the banks of the Etange de Berre as 'the goal of my dreams', and would return regularly with his family to stay at the Villa Ste Anne for the next eighteen years. Characteristically, it was not only the colour and beauty of the Provencal landscape that delighted John, but also that of the handsome local population. In a letter to Ottoline Morrell written shortly after his first arrival in Martigues, Augustus remarked, '... I have seen so many powerful women whose essential nudity no clothing can disguise.'