Portland Trio

Details

JOHN PIPER, C.H. (1903-1992)
Portland Trio
signed 'John Piper' (lower right)
oil on canvas
14 ¼ x 10 3/8 in. (36.2 x 26.3 cm.)
Painted in 1954.

Provenance

Hanford Henderson, Washington, D.C.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 23 March 1995, lot 239.
Anonymous sale; Lawrences, Crewkerne, 16 October 2015, lot 1642, where purchased by the present owner.

Exhibited

New York, Curt Valentin Gallery, John Piper, February - March 1955, no. 7.
Carolina, University of North Carolina, Ackland Art Museum, on long term loan.

Special notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Alice Murray Head of Evening Sale

amurray@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2423

Lot Essay

Throughout his career John Piper was periodically drawn to the distinctive seaside and industrial landscapes of Portland Bill, a rocky mass which juts out from England's Dorset coast: this spartan and angular locality became a subject which he made his own. Many of the best paintings date from the early to mid 1950s. A dozen or so, including the present lot, were exhibited in 1955 at the Curt Valentin Gallery, New York. The three scenes in Portland Trio, which relate to different vistas taken from the same viewpoint, were selected from a distinct series of finished, mixed media studies which feature in one of John Piper's 1949/1950 sketchbooks (private collection).

We are very grateful to Rev. Dr Stephen Laird FSA for preparing this catalogue entry.

More from Modern British and Irish Art Day Sale

View All