Hic Iacet Arturus (Here Lies Arthur)

Details

David Jones (1895-1974)
Hic Iacet Arturus (Here Lies Arthur)
pencil wax crayon
13 x 16 in. (33 x 40.6 cm.)
Executed circa 1949.

Provenance

with Anthony d'Offay, London, where purchased by the present owners.

Literature

N. Gray, The Painted Inscriptions of David Jones, London, 1981, no. 15.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 15% on the buyer's premium

Further details

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

This work belongs to a group of experimental inscriptions made in the late forties when Jones started seriously working on inscriptions for the first time as an art form. The text is from Malory's Morte Darthur 'here lies Arthur, the once and future King'. Jones is seen here experimenting both technically with the use of pencil on wax crayon and also with the letter forms which show an influence of early medieval inscriptions. Hills comments 'He was not, however, I am sure, trying to recreate an historic style, his reaction to the Romano-Celtic connotations of the Arthurian myth was much more personal and complex.' (Exhibition catalogue, David Jones, London, 1981, p. 129).

More from 20th Century British Art including Works from the Collection of Bannon & Barnabas McHenry

View All