Fishergirls at Equihen, Normandy

Details

Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Fishergirls at Equihen, Normandy
signed 'John' (lower right)
pen and black ink and wash
13½ x 19 in. (34.2 x 48.2 cm.)
Executed in 1907

Provenance

Sir Cyril Kendall Butler.
C. Harwood Laurence.

Literature

L. Browse, Augustus John Drawings, London, 1941, no. 22, p. 18, pl. 22.
J. Rothenstein, Augustus John, Oxford, 1944, pl. 80.

Exhibited

New York, World's Fair, British Council Exhibition, 1939-40, no. 56.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

In the summer of 1907, John came across a group of fishergirls working on the Normandy coast at Equihen near Boulogne, and was struck by their distinctive costumes. He made many studies of the girls in different group compositions, as he wrote to Dorelia, 'The fish women are simply magnificent, I must get a studio or shed here soon and paint 'em - there's money in it!' (see M. Holroyd, Augustus John, London, 1996, p. 241).

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