Lot 28
28
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
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Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)

Walpurgis Night

Details
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Walpurgis Night
signed 'John' (lower right)
oil on canvas
17 x 21 in. (43.2 x 53.3 cm.)
Painted in 1900.
Provenance
Humphrey Brooke, and by descent.
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, Works by Augustus John, O.M., R.A., March - June 1954, no. 329.
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


In 1900 John began a large painting of Faust and Mephistopheles witnessing a witches' coven on the summit of the Brocken. This oil was never exhibited but was probably very similar to a pen and wash drawing of the same subject (Tate, fig. 1), and a smaller oil (the present work).

Humphrey Brooke (1914-1988) was secretary of the Royal Academy from 1952-68, and lent the present work to John's 1954 exhibition at the Diploma Gallery.

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