Lot Essay
This mesmerising portrait of the artist's wife, Froanna, with its angular and facetted construction stems from Wyndham Lewis' allegiance to Cubism and Vorticism (of which he was a founder).
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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE LATE MR AND MRS WADEMaurice Wade (1917-1991) was an artist of repute, exhibiting at the Tib Lane Gallery in Manchester during the late 1960s and 1970s, and having considerable success with the Thackeray Gallery in Kensington, including three sell-out exhibitions in the early seventies. However, according to his wife Margaret, his popularity waned and he died a relatively unknown artist in 1991. It was only in 2009 when the Philips Art Gallery, Altrincham, presented an exhibition of his paintings, that a reappraisal of his work began. Coincidentally, the exhibition was held in the old Tib Lane premises, two years after the proprietor, Mrs Green had closed her gallery after more than four decades. Christie’s are delighted to be offering ten works from Maurice Wade’s personal collection across our April and November auctions in 2019. A man of modest means, Wade’s purchases were infrequent – the result of his trips to the Tib Lane Gallery between 1972-1988 – but well-judged, and his collection is testament to his keen eye for Modern British paintings and drawings.
Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957)
Woman Reading
Details
Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957)
Woman Reading
signed and dated 'Wyndham Lewis 1936.' (lower right) and inscribed 'Woman Reading.' (on the reverse of the supporting board)
pencil and watercolour on paper
12 ¾ x 10 1/8 in. (32.4 x 25.7 cm.)
Executed in 1936.
Woman Reading
signed and dated 'Wyndham Lewis 1936.' (lower right) and inscribed 'Woman Reading.' (on the reverse of the supporting board)
pencil and watercolour on paper
12 ¾ x 10 1/8 in. (32.4 x 25.7 cm.)
Executed in 1936.
Provenance
M.A. Tachmindji.
Sir Michael Sadler.
with Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester, where purchased by Mr and Mrs Maurice Wade, and by descent.
Sir Michael Sadler.
with Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester, where purchased by Mr and Mrs Maurice Wade, and by descent.
Literature
W. Michel, Wyndham Lewis: Paintings and Drawings, London, 1971, p. 404, no. 879.
Exhibited
London, Redfern Gallery, Wyndham Lewis, May 1949, no. 83.
Brought to you by
Alice Murray