John Craxton, R.A.

The Leicester Galleries, London
Acquired by Wilfrid A. Evill December 1951 for £50.0.0, by whom bequeathed to Honor Frost in 1963

London, The Leicester Galleries, New Year Exhibition, January 1951, cat. no.97 (as Greek Vase);
Hampstead, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Catalogue of the Greater Portion of a Collection of Modern English Paintings, Water Colours, Drawings and Sculpture Belonging to W. A. Evill, March 1955, cat. no.102 (as The Vase);
London, The Home of Wilfrid A. Evill, Contemporary Art Society, Pictures, Drawings, Water Colours and Sculpture, April - May 1961, (part IV- section 4) cat. no.1 (as The Vase);
Brighton, Brighton Art Gallery, The Wilfrid Evill Memorial Exhibition, June - August 1965, cat. no.24.

The colours, particularly the blue tones, are fresher, richer and less yellow than the catalogue illustration suggests. Original canvas. The surface has recently been cleaned. Generally the work is in good original condition. Ultraviolet light reveals no apparent signs of retouching. Held in a painted and gilt wood frame with a canvas inset. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Craxton began his life-long love affair with Greece on a trip to Poros in 1946. In 1947 he and Lucian Freud, who shared a studio in London, stayed with a local Greek family on the same island, where they painted for an exhibition to be held at the London Gallery in the autumn.  

Craxton's descriptions of his first impressions of Greece communicate the now unimaginable impact these bright new lands must have had on a young painter emerging from a war spent in London. 'Greece was more than everything that I had imagined and far more than I had expected... As my first contact with the Mediterranean and the discovery of the action of light, the way light and shadow behave, the arrival in Greece was astonishing' (John Craxton, Christopher Hull Gallery, London, 1985, p.22).

We are grateful to Ian Collins for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.