- 16
Peter Lanyon
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Peter Lanyon
- LANDSCAPE AND CUP (ANNUNCIATION)
- signed; also signed, titled and further inscribed on the reverse
- oil on board
- 32 by 39.5cm.; 12½ by 15½in.
- Executed in 1946.
Provenance
Sheila Lanyon
Sale, Sotheby's London, 23rd May 1984, lot 229, where acquired by
Stanley J. Seeger
His sale, Sotheby's London, 14th June 2001, lot 80
Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London, where acquired by the present owner
Sale, Sotheby's London, 23rd May 1984, lot 229, where acquired by
Stanley J. Seeger
His sale, Sotheby's London, 14th June 2001, lot 80
Austin/Desmond Fine Art, London, where acquired by the present owner
Exhibited
St. Ives, Downing's Bookshop, 1947, (details untraced);
St. Ives, St Ives Society of Artists, Mariners Church, Second Crypt Group Exhibition, 1947 (details untraced);
London, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Peter Lanyon, 1991, cat. no.1, illustrated;
St Ives, Tate Gallery, Peter Lanyon: Generation, 22nd October 1994 - 8th January 1995, study display;
St Ives, Tate Gallery, Peter Lanyon, 9th October 2010 - 23rd January 2011, unnumbered, illustrated p.35, where lent by the present owner.
St. Ives, St Ives Society of Artists, Mariners Church, Second Crypt Group Exhibition, 1947 (details untraced);
London, Bernard Jacobson Gallery, Peter Lanyon, 1991, cat. no.1, illustrated;
St Ives, Tate Gallery, Peter Lanyon: Generation, 22nd October 1994 - 8th January 1995, study display;
St Ives, Tate Gallery, Peter Lanyon, 9th October 2010 - 23rd January 2011, unnumbered, illustrated p.35, where lent by the present owner.
Literature
Andrew Causey, Peter Lanyon, Aidan Ellis Publishing, Henley-on-Thames, 1971, p.43, cat. no.10, illustrated pl.5;
Andrew Lanyon, Portreath: The Paintings of Peter Lanyon, Andrew Lanyon, Newlyn 1993, illustrated p.22;
Margaret Garlake, Peter Lanyon, Tate, London, 1998, cat. no.20, illustrated p.25;
Chris Stephens, Peter Lanyon: At the Edge of Landscape, 21 Publishing, London 2000, p.52, pl.26;
Andrew Causey, Peter Lanyon: Modernism and the Land, Reaktion Books, London 2006, p.47, pl.22.
Andrew Lanyon, Portreath: The Paintings of Peter Lanyon, Andrew Lanyon, Newlyn 1993, illustrated p.22;
Margaret Garlake, Peter Lanyon, Tate, London, 1998, cat. no.20, illustrated p.25;
Chris Stephens, Peter Lanyon: At the Edge of Landscape, 21 Publishing, London 2000, p.52, pl.26;
Andrew Causey, Peter Lanyon: Modernism and the Land, Reaktion Books, London 2006, p.47, pl.22.
Condition
Stable board, with very minor signs of possible abrasion to the extreme right hand edge, most probably in line with a previous framing. The board is ever so slightly bowed towards the bottom. This is only noticeable upon very close inspection.
There is some fine horizontal cracking appearing to the bottom of the panel, running through the centre, and most probably in line with the aforementioned bowing.
Ultraviolet light reveals areas of fluorescence and probable retouching to the extreme edges of the top left corner; in two smaller flecks in the top right corner, as well as further, very minor flecks to the bottom right and left hand corners, most probably in line with a previous framing. Further very minor flecks are visible in the bottom left hand quadrant, and in a fine horizontal line across the lower half of the work, most probably the result of a faint cracking.
Housed behind glass in a thick black-painted and gilt frame. Unexamined out of frame.
Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 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.
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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
The almost mystical involvement with place and landscape in Lanyon’s work is often overlooked, but in his paintings from the years just after his return to Cornwall following his war service, this element of his painting was much to the fore.
We see Lanyon moving between the abstract and figurative, laying images over each other within curving and curling forms. In all, the sense of enclosure is strong, be that the buildings and objects in the foreground nestling beneath the surrounding hills in Landscape and Cup (Annunciation) or the intricately enfolded forms at the heart of paintings like Prelude or Generation (both Private Collection). Lanyon himself saw such works as part of distinct grouping that he felt resonated from his own feelings during the period in 1946 and 1947 that led to the birth of his first child. In a letter to Naum Gabo he described how ‘…the spiral went right through every painting, in every case closely associated with the oval form rather elongated like this [horizontal] or vertical. I find this form expresses in me a sense of protective solitude – like a prayer.’ (the Artist, letter to Naum Gabo, February 1949).
Like the closely related The Yellow Runner (Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Cumbria), and indeed prefiguring much in his later paintings, Lanyon creates a very distinct sense of atmosphere, of memory and familiarity, but also wonder in the place, be that the natural or the man-made environment. It becomes a place of solace but also of strength, and as Lanyon was resettling himself amongst his Cornish roots and moving his life on, so the paintings reflect this re-engagement.
We see Lanyon moving between the abstract and figurative, laying images over each other within curving and curling forms. In all, the sense of enclosure is strong, be that the buildings and objects in the foreground nestling beneath the surrounding hills in Landscape and Cup (Annunciation) or the intricately enfolded forms at the heart of paintings like Prelude or Generation (both Private Collection). Lanyon himself saw such works as part of distinct grouping that he felt resonated from his own feelings during the period in 1946 and 1947 that led to the birth of his first child. In a letter to Naum Gabo he described how ‘…the spiral went right through every painting, in every case closely associated with the oval form rather elongated like this [horizontal] or vertical. I find this form expresses in me a sense of protective solitude – like a prayer.’ (the Artist, letter to Naum Gabo, February 1949).
Like the closely related The Yellow Runner (Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Cumbria), and indeed prefiguring much in his later paintings, Lanyon creates a very distinct sense of atmosphere, of memory and familiarity, but also wonder in the place, be that the natural or the man-made environment. It becomes a place of solace but also of strength, and as Lanyon was resettling himself amongst his Cornish roots and moving his life on, so the paintings reflect this re-engagement.
We are greatful to Toby Treves for his kind assistance in cataloguing the present work. This painting will be included in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Peter Lanyon's paintings and constructions, to be published by Modern Art Press.