Sir Matthew Smith

Vera Cuningham
Bequeathed, and thence by descent to the present owner

Eastbourne, Towner Art Gallery, loan exhibit

The canvas is unlined. There are artist's pinholes in all four corners. There is an abrasion to the canvas in the upper right quadrant, and another in the upper left quadrant. Small areas of paint loss correspond to the abrasions mentioned above. Examination under ultra-violet light reveals a small spot of retouching to the sitter's neck in the lower centre of the painting, and a series of small spots gathered in the centre of the lower edge. Held in a gilded frame with a brown velvet cross section.
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The present work is the first of three head studies of Smith's model Vera Cuningham. Another of the series, also entitled Vera en Grecque, is in the collection of the Corporation of London. The techniques Smith employed for this series differ greatly from those used for the rest of his output. His ability to experiment arose from his long relationship with Vera and his profound understanding of her as an artist and model. This highly personal study was one of Vera's favourites of the portraits Smith painted of her, and one of only two that she kept until her death.

A notable feature of this painting is the shape formed by Vera's head and bust. Smith has used a particularly thin wash of yellowish paint to give life to the almost translucent skin tones for which Vera was so much admired as a model. 

We are grateful to John Gledhill for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.