James Lloyd

The Artist, by whom gifted to Ken and Shirley Russell in 1964 and thence by descent to the present owner

The card appears sound. There is some creasing and an old tear to the upper left corner and a diaganol line of what appears to be old retouching or media staining in the upper left corner, visible in the catalogue illustration; otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. Held under glass in a silver frame with a cream mount. Please telephone the department on 0207 293 6424 if you have any questions about 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Born in Cheshire, Lloyd worked in a huge variety of different professions before he took up painting full time in the 1960s, encouraged by Herbert Read. He developed the painstaking method evident in the present work, the image carefully built up from a series of carefully placed dots. In 1963, he was introduced to the film director Ken Russell, first owner of the present work, by Eric Lister of the Portal Gallery. Russell subsequently directed a television documentary for the BBC Monitor series about the artist's life and work: The dotty world of James Lloyd (1964) and went on to cast the artist as Henri Rousseau in his 'Monitor' film about the great French naive painter in 1965. Lloyd was a huge fan of The Beatles and was commissioned by Apple corps to paint a picture for their Illustrated Lyrics book, published in 1969.