The Wood Nymph

Details

Philip Wilson Steer, O.M., N.E.A.C. (1860-1942)
The Wood Nymph
signed and dated 'P W Steer 1902' (lower right)
oil on canvas
27 x 22 in. (68.6 x 55.8 cm.)

Provenance

L.A. Harrison.
Hugo Pitman Esq., and by descent.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 11 June 1976, lot 55 (sold for £850).

Literature

Zeitschrift für Bildende Kunst, Leipzig, November 1902, as 'Aktstudie'.
D.S. MacColl, Philip Wilson Steer, London, 1945, p. 204.
B. Laugton, Philip Wilson Steer, Oxford, 1971, pp. 75, 140, no. 273, pl. 128.

Exhibited

London, New English Art Club, Spring 1902, no. 113, as 'A Nude'.
London, National Gallery, Exhibition of 20th Century British Paintings, 1940, no. 105 (lent by Hugo Pitman Esq.)

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Steer’s Nude was one of the centre-pieces of the New English Art Club Spring Exhibition in 1902. In an otherwise gloomy show, it was, according to one critic, ‘cheerfully sketched’, combining ‘the vigour of Rubens with the palette of Romney’. Now in his forties, Steer’s spontaneity was undiminished and here he provides a vivacious counterpoint to Orpen’s sombre English Nude, 1900 (Mildura Arts Centre, Australia).
KMc.

More from Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art

View All