The Intruding Bull

Details

Graham Sutherland, O.M. (1903-1980)
The Intruding Bull
signed and dated 'Sutherland 1944' (lower left) and inscribed 'The Intruding/Bull' (on a label attached to the reverse)
oil on panel
30 x 25½ in. (76.2 x 64.8 cm.)

Provenance

Purchased by Sir Colin Anderson at the 1945 exhibition.

Literature

Horizon, XII, no. 67, July 1945.
D. Cooper, The Work of Graham Sutherland, London, 1961, p. 76, no. 86a, illustrated.
R. Berthoud, Graham Sutherland A Biography, London, 1982, p. 119.

Exhibited

London, Lefevre Gallery, Recent paintings by Francis Bacon, Frances Hodgkins, Henry Moore, Matthew Smith, Graham Sutherland, April 1945, no. 37.
London, Arts Council, New Burlington Galleries, British Painting 1925-50 First Anthology, Festival of Britain, March 1951, no. 100: this exhibition travelled to Manchester, City Art Gallery.
London, Tate Gallery, Private Views Works from the collections of twenty Friends of the Tate Gallery, April - May 1963, no. 30.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Roger Berthoud comments, 'A mixed show at the Lefevre Gallery in April 1945, in which he [Sutherland] had seven oils and four gouaches, gave him a chance to demonstrate how he was evolving ... An Intruding Bull, thrusting its powerful horned head over a hedge, was no less novel or Picasso-esque. This was bought by Colin Anderson for £85 [sic.] ... Trying to pin down the essence of the change in his work in letter to Colin Anderson, Graham wrote: 'Whereas hitherto I've tried to invent forms which not only give the feeling but something of the appearance as well.' The Intruding Bull was the first result, and he thought it aesthetically the best of his recent pictures ... Graham added: 'I do thank you for being literally the only one of my earliest supporters who follows what I am trying to do as I try to do it, naturally, and without slight prompting on my part. You never seem shocked, never worried as to whether my work is always like Samuel Palmer or maddeningly like Picasso, or too hard now or too soft before' (op. cit., pp. 118-9).

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