John Armstrong A.R.A. (1893-1973)

Cophetua and the Beggarmaid

Details

John Armstrong A.R.A. (1893-1973)
Cophetua and the Beggarmaid
oil on canvas
36½ x 24 in. (92.7 x 60.9 cm.)
Painted circa 1953-1954.

Provenance

Mrs John Armstrong.
with Pyms Gallery, London.
Private Collection.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, John Armstrong Retrospective, Royal Academy, London, 1975, illustrated, unpaginated.
A. Lambirth, John Armstrong The Paintings, London, 2009, p. 121, illustrated.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, John Armstrong Retrospective, February - March 1975, no. 125: This exhibition travelled to Plymouth, City Museum & Art Gallery, May - June 1975; Preston, Harris Museum & Art Gallery, June - July 1975 and Newcastle-on-Tyne, Laing Art Gallery, August 1975.
Colchester, The Minories, John Armstrong, January - February 1977, no. 20.
King's Lynn, Fermoy Art Gallery, John Armstrong Paintings, 1977, no. 12.
London, New Grafton Gallery, John Armstrong, March - April 1984, no. 13.

Lot Essay

Cophetua and the Beggarmaid is an important work in Armstrong's body of work. It is unusual for the artist not to have signed or dated a work of this magnitude. The reasoning for why the painting never seems to have been exhibited until his death adds to the mystery around not just the title but also the symbolism.
Andrew Lambirth writes about the present work at length whilst comparing Armstrong's symbolism to René Magritte,'A very strange painting, with no easily decipherable symbolism ... with a bewildering clarity of statement ... he wanted to convey his unease at the world's direction ... communication of concern was his aim' (A. Lambirth, John Armstrong The Paintings, London, 2009, p. 117).

We are very grateful to Jonathan Gibbs for his assistance with cataloguing this lot and lot 35.

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