Graham Sutherland, O.M. (1903-1980)

Palm and House

Details

Graham Sutherland, O.M. (1903-1980)
Palm and House
signed and dated 'Sutherland 1947' (upper right), inscribed 'PALM & HOUSE' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
43 x 35 in. (110.5 x 90.2 cm.)

Provenance

F.M. Hall Collection.

Literature

R. Melville, Graham Sutherland Recent Paintings 1945-50, London, 1950, pl.31
D. Cooper, The Work of Graham Sutherland, London, 1961, p.77, pl.93a.
F. Arcangeli, Sutherland, Milan, 1973, no.68.

Exhibited

London, Hanover Gallery, Paintings by Graham Sutherland, June-July 1948, no.2.
New York, Buchholz Gallery, Graham Sutherland, November-December 1948, no.6.
Paris, Arts Council, Muse Nationale d'Art Moderne, Graham Sutherland, November-December 1952, no.21: this exhibition travelled to Amsterdam, Stedlijk Museum, January 1953; and Zurich, Kunsthalle, March-April 1953.
London, Arts Council, Coronation Exhibitions, Tate Gallery, Paintings and Drawings by Graham Sutherland, May-August 1953, no.29.
Sao Paulo, British Council, III Biennale, Graham Sutherland, 1955, no.3 (illustrated).
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Graham Sutherland, 1967, no.21: this exhibition travelled to The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, June-July 1967; Berlin, Haus der Kunst, August-September 1967; and Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Ocotober-November 1967.

Lot Essay

Sutherland visited the South of France for the first time in April 1947. Here he saw sumptuous vegetation, hot mediterranean colours and fantastic rock formations as well as vine pergodas and palm palisades which particularly captured his imagination. He undertook a series of paintings incorporating these images, which the effects of the carnage that he had witnessed as an official War artist led him to interpret in a new and exciting way. As Raymond Mortimer later commented (Hanover Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, 1948, p.15): 'he now more usually seems to find in nature symbols of human suffering and cruelty. The southern vegetation hardens into instruments of torture. The palm - traditional emblem of the martyr's victory - is degraded into a weapon for his executioner'.

More from 20C British Art

View All