Sir Cedric Morris

The Adams Gallery, London
Probably purchased by the previous owner from Blond Fine Art, London in 1979 and thence by descent

The canvas is in good original condition. There are tiny spots of craquelure in infrequent places across the paint surface. Otherwise the impasto is thick and the paint surface is in good overall condition. There is no sign of retouching under ultra-violet light. Held in a painted composition frame. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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The present work belongs to a small group of flower paintings that date to around 1923 which are quite remarkable in their presentation. The perfectly respectable flower still life was a mainstay of even the most conservative artistic establishment at the time, yet Morris' exuberant use of paint and apparently haphazard composition manages to achieve a sense of reality that is substantially divorced from the aims of the more conventional flower painter. Indeed, this ability to achieve an end that was unmistakeably 'like' without resorting to overwhelming pictorial detail was a hallmark of Morris' painting throughout his career, whether his subject be portrait, landscape or still-life.