Lot Essay
An excerpt from Gretchen Gerzina's book Carrington A Life of Dora Carrington, Oxford, 1989, pp221-222 explains well the artists love of flowers:
'Flowers, representations of Ham Spray's bounty and of more exotic locations, became a favourite subject. She bought botanical prints, which Ralph bound in books for her. She frequently gave and recieved flowers as gifts, and friends scoured florist shops and country gardens for pleasing specimens for her. If she recieved a gift of a flower, all other work ceased while she painted it during its brief life. The painter Henry Lamb brought her "a most superb Mexican lily, a great red lily on the top of a thick purple stalk" at the end of March, and when Lytton went on holiday he sent her gentians from the continent.'
This passage confirms that Carringtons love of flowers was enhanced by her move to Ham Spray, Hungerford in July 1924. Other floral works include "Dahlias" circa 1927, also painted at Ham Spray. (N Carrington Carrington Paintings, Drawings and Decorations Oxford, 1978, p64)
'Flowers, representations of Ham Spray's bounty and of more exotic locations, became a favourite subject. She bought botanical prints, which Ralph bound in books for her. She frequently gave and recieved flowers as gifts, and friends scoured florist shops and country gardens for pleasing specimens for her. If she recieved a gift of a flower, all other work ceased while she painted it during its brief life. The painter Henry Lamb brought her "a most superb Mexican lily, a great red lily on the top of a thick purple stalk" at the end of March, and when Lytton went on holiday he sent her gentians from the continent.'
This passage confirms that Carringtons love of flowers was enhanced by her move to Ham Spray, Hungerford in July 1924. Other floral works include "Dahlias" circa 1927, also painted at Ham Spray. (N Carrington Carrington Paintings, Drawings and Decorations Oxford, 1978, p64)