Sir George Clausen, R.A., R.W.S., R.I.

Sale: Christie's, London, November 12, 1976, lot 27, illustrated (titled Carnations in Two Glass Vases)
(Probably) Sale: Sotheby's, Belgravia, June 27, 1978, lot 126 

London, Leicester Galleries, Paintings and Drawings by George Clausen RA, 1909, no. 11

Oil on canvas not lined. The picture surface is an overall very good condition. It is clean and the impasto remains fresh. Under UV light there are a few small dots of in painting along the extreme edges though no other apparent retouches. In overall excellent condition and ready to hang.
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.
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In 1904 George Clausen’s appointment as Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy necessitated his return from rural Essex to London, and although he retained his commitment to rustic subject matter, the range of his work broadened. He had produced a few flower studies in pastel in the early 1890s, but with a picture of his daughters, Children and Roses, (Two Girls arranging Roses), circa 1899 (Private Collection), he began to think more deeply about flower studies. Then, in 1905, he was approached by Bernard Hall of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and tasked with making purchases, suitable for the gallery, in the London art market. At this point he found himself looking carefully at the work of Henri Fantin-Latour whose Dahlias (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne) was one of the thirteen pictures he acquired on the gallery’s behalf (Kenneth McConkey, George Clausen and the Picture of English Rural Life, 2012, p. 146).

Clausen had long been an admirer of the crisp clarity of Fantin’s vision and his first new London-based flower pieces reflect this. While in later works the palette lightens and more brightly coloured blooms are chosen, while those, like the present example, painted prior to his Leicester Galleries exhibition in 1909 are more tonal - echoing in their delicacy and freshness, the flowers of the French master.

Clausen’s exhibition opened in May 1909 and on 12th June, so pleased was its purchaser that the artist was commissioned for a companion piece to Carnations. This was delivered to the Leicester Galleries (Ernest Brown and Phillips) on 2^nd September for the asking price of 18 guineas. The show, according to one press report, had much to "appeal alike to students and connoisseurs" and noting the "charm and feeling" of still-lifes and flower pieces it concluded that these amply "testify to the painter’s command of his craft" (Manchester Courier, 29 May 1909 p. 6). 

This catalogue entry was written by Professor Kenneth McConkey.