Lot 60
60
John Banting (1902-1972)
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John Banting (1902-1972)

Figure with Heart

Details
John Banting (1902-1972)
Figure with Heart
signed with initials and dated 'JB/1930' (lower left)
oil on canvas
17 x 21 in. (43.2 x 53.4 cm.)
Literature
Exhibition catalogue, A Salute to British Surrealism, Colchester, 1985, p. 20, illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, Surrealism in Britain: 1936 and After, Canterbury, Herbert Read Gallery, 1986, p. 19, illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, The Surrealist Spirit in Britain, London, Whitford & Hughes, 1988, p. 27, illustrated.
Exhibition catalogue, I Surrealisti, Milan, Palazzo Reale, May-September 1989, p. 455, illustrated.
Exhibited
London, Oliver Bradbury and James Birch Fine Art, John Banting 1902 - 1972, May - June 1983, no. 49.
Colchester, The Minories, A Salute to Brtish Surrealism 1930-1950, April - May 1985, no. 10: this exhibition travelled to London, Blond Fine Art, May - June 1985; and Hull, Ferens Art Gallery, July - August 1985.
Canterbury, Herbert Read Gallery, Surrealism in England: 1936 and After, 1986, no. 9: this exhibition travelled to Cardiff, National Museum of Wales; and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Laing Art Gallery.
London, Whitford and Hughes, The Surrealist Spirit in Britain, April - June 1988, no. 10.
Milan, Palazzo Reale, I Surrealisti, May - September 1989, not numbered.
Special notice
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Lot Essay

John Banting spent time on the continent and was very au fait with Surrealism before its full public exposure to Britain in 1936. In fact, Banting was one of few British Surrealists to consistently exhibit with the group until its official end at the London Gallery in 1951. The present work was painted in 1930, on Banting's return from his second stay in Paris where he met artists including, Duchamp, Giacometti and Breton. The work was painted with the direct intention of shocking the viewer. The bleeding heart is intensified by Banting's conscious and incorrect anatomical positioning of the heart. This deformation of reality is overlooked by a large heavily-veined leaf which is a recurring motif in Banting's work of this early Surrealist period.

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