East of Suez

Details

Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949)
East of Suez
signed with an initial 'N' (lower right)
oil on canvas
13 x 15½ in. (33 x 39.3 cm.)
Painted in 1915

Provenance

Purchased by the present owner at the 1941 exhibition.

Literature

M. Steen, William Nicholson, London, 1943, p. 122.
L. Browse, William Nicholson, London, 1956, no. 198.

Exhibited

London, Leicester Galleries, Modern Painting, 1941, no. 67.
London, Marlborough Fine Art, Sir William Nicholson, March 1967, no. 14.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Painted during the artist's visit to India during the first half of 1915. This is probably a scene at Scandal Point, Bombay, where there was a low sea wall bordering a hook of land jutting out into the sea. Evening breezes made the tree-lined promenade a popular spot for an evening walk, and a gossip. Marguerite Steen (loc. cit.) relates that Nicholson was making notes at dusk after the rain at Scandal Point when a soldier tried to arrest him. His release was quickly secured after he was able to show that he was in Bombay to paint the Chief Justice's wedding portrait: Sir Basil and Lady Scott (L. Browse, op. cit., no. 286).
P.R.

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