Horatio, Ship's Figurehead

Across the Modern British and Irish Art Evening and Day sales, Christie’s are delighted to be offering a group of works by Edward Wadsworth, which are being sold directly from the artist’s family. This group demonstrates Wadsworth’s skill and diversity, and is led by his striking early Self Portrait in a Turban of 1911 (please see lot 14 in the Evening sale), painted the year he won First prize for Figure Painting at the Slade School of Art. In the Day sale, works from all decades of his career are represented: from the earliest work of 1912, a rare oil painting depicting Gran Canaria where he and his wife Fanny spent their honeymoon; to a 1944 tempera painting Straight from the Tap I, which came about as part of a war-time commission from the ICI in which a stylised female figure occupies her domestic environment. These works have remained in the artist’s family since they were painted, and not only do they confirm Wadsworth’s position within the avant-garde of the time, but they also document the more private life of the artist and his family.

For works from this collection please see lot 14 in the Modern British and Irish Art Evening sale on 18 October, and lots 103-108 in the Modern British and Irish Art Day sale on 19 October.


During the summer of 1936, Wadsworth was approached by Frank Pick, Chief Executive of the London Passenger Transport Board, to produce a series of poster designs to advertise the Maritime Museum at Greenwich (the present lot), the South Kensington Museums, and the 1936 Lord Mayor's Show (original in the collection of the London Transport Museum). The design for the Lord Mayor's Show poster featured a Lewis and Vickers machine gun entwined with ribbons, and the sight of the designs caused controversy, resulting in an article in the Daily Mirror accusing them of glorifying war. The London Passenger Transport Board therefore decided to withdraw the posters, a decision which Wadsworth did not approve of.