Lovers in a Glowing Wood

Details

William Scott, R.A. (1913-1989)
Lovers in a Glowing Wood
signed and dated 'W SCOTT/45' (lower right), signed with initials and inscribed 'Lovers in a/Gloomy Wood/W.S.' (on the reverse)
watercolour
10½ x 15 in. (26.7 x 38.1 cm.)
This work is recorded in the William Scott Archive as No. 846.

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 25 June 1980, lot 275.
with Blond Fine Art, London, 1981.
Mrs Margaret Johnstone, Edinburgh.
with Fine Art Society, London, 1989.

Exhibited

London, Leger Galleries, Watercolours and Drawings by William & Mary Scott, December 1945, no. 8.
London, Imperial War Museum, William Scott War Paintings 1942-46, February - March 1981, no. 12.
Chichester, Festival Exhibition, The Tudor Room of the Bishop's Palace, Farm, Field and Fantasy, Visions of the English Countryside from the 18th Century to the Present Day, July 1989, no. 46, as 'Lovers in a Wood'.
Chichester, Festival Exhibition, The Tudor Room of the Bishop's Palace, All for Love, Aspects of love in the Art of more than 200 years, July 1994, no. 49, as 'Lovers in a Wood'.
Chichester, Pallant House Gallery, Flowers of Peace: British Art and Design in 1945, June - August 1995, as 'Lovers in a Wood', not numbered.
Aldeburgh, Peter Pears Gallery, Festival Exhibition, June 2006, no. 42, as 'Lovers in a Wood'.

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

This work was executed at Ruabon, Wales, where Scott was stationed whilst serving in the Royal Engineers. Scott has inscribed it 'Lovers in a Gloomy Wood' on the reverse. Robert Scott has suggested that Leger advised Scott to change its title for the 1945 exhibition: 'gloomy' not being an attractive description, especially since the War had so recently ended (private correspondence, 6 September 2006).

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