Green Pears and Blue Pot

Details

William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989)
Green Pears and Blue Pot
signed and dated 'W. SCOTT 55' (upper right)
oil on board
15½ x 19¾ in. (39.4 x 50.2 cm.)

Provenance

with Hanover Gallery, London, as 'Blue Pot and Three Pears'.
with Antiquariato G. Cesarano, Bergamo.
with Lorenzelli Arte, Milan.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 17 November 2006, lot 114, as 'Blue Pot and Three Pears', where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

S. Whitfield (ed.), William Scott: Catalogue Raisonné of Oil Paintings 1952-1959, vol. 2, London, 2013, p. 119, no. 264, illustrated.

Exhibited

probably London, Hanover Gallery, Bacon Scott Sutherland, June - July 1955, no. 9.
Bergamo, Galleria Lorenzelli, W. Scott, February 1978, catalogue not traced.
Milan, Lorenzelli Arte, William Scott, La voce dei colori, March - May 2005, no. 3, pp. 32-33, illustrated, as 'Still Life'.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Cadogan Tate. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Cadogan Tate Ltd. All collections will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Lot Essay

Scott returned to painting still life compositions in 1955, moving away from the abstract works that he was producing in the three years before this. He used pears and saucepans as the key elements in these still lifes and, as we see in the present work, the surface is very dense. Scott himself said of another work of this series, Composition I: Pots and Pears, 1955, 'The pots and pears in this picture have certain shapes that I always use. They're the shapes that have come about very slowly through the years, they've evolved from my early paintings. Perhaps they are very fundamental shapes. Some people may feel there's some kind of erotic feel about them. If that's so, it's probably due to my love for the primitive and for the elemental' (see N. Lynton, William Scott, London, 2004, p. 148).

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