Lot 230
230
John Tunnard, A.R.A. (1900-1971)
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John Tunnard, A.R.A. (1900-1971)

Second Wrecking

Details
John Tunnard, A.R.A. (1900-1971)
Second Wrecking
with studio stamp (on the reverse)
watercolour and bodycolour
14½ x 21½ in. (36.8 x 54.6 cm.)
Executed in 1947.
This work was listed by Tunnard as W.36
Literature
A. Peat & B. Whitton, John Tunnard His Life and Work, Aldershot, 1997, p. 180, no. 559.
Exhibited
New York, Brooklyn Museum, International Watercolour Exhibition, 14th Biennale, April - June 1947, no. 184.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The slightly oblique vertical lines which Tunnard often introduced into landscape-format paintings here provide a window for the viewer to focus on the wreck. The slanted horizon suggests the viewer is also on a ship - possibly the second wreck of the title. The longer one looks through the window, the more the red structure in the middle [which contrasts strongly with the blues of the turbulent sea] demands attention. Tunnard used a blood-red highlight against a bluish background in several works to suggest past or imminent death in water, examples include the well-known Davy Jones' Locker, 1946, [Leeds City Art Gallery & Museums] and Sea Trout Rising, 1954, [University of Hull].

B.W.

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