Bamboo Forest

The presence of a solitary figure enclosed by the landscape, the exoticism of the motif (by now Sutherland was living in Menton) and the use of structural verticals, serve to connect the present work to his paintings of the late 1940s. In other respects the present lot is notably different. The brushwork and use of colour are now lush, even flamboyant, and the nocturnal lighting creates a somewhat mysterious and theatrical atmosphere. Although the painterly freedom is characteristic of Sutherland's later style, inspired to some degree perhaps by the example of his friend Francis Bacon, the theme of an enclosed funnel of space leading the viewer imaginatively into more luminous depths brings to mind Sutherland's earlier Entrance to a Lane series, conceived in Pembrokeshire, and even some of his early etchings from the 1920s.

We are very grateful to Martin Hammer for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.