The Garden, Garsington Manor

The present work is from a series of paintings of the gardens of Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, the home of Sir Philip and Lady Ottoline Morrell, executed throughout 1923. Garsington had become a second home to Gertler who considered himself to be 'painter in residence'. From 1917 he spent many weeks throughout the summer with the Morrells and every Christmas holiday: 'I love working all day here and then the pleasant meal in the evening, with either the pianola or reading afterwards' ... 'You have no idea how comforting it feels, to have a sort of family and home now at Garsington. There have been moments since I returned, when I sunk to the lowest pit of depression. At such moments the thought of Garsington was my only consolation ... You must try and impress upon Ottoline how thankful I feel and how much I like her, also Philip. I find it difficult to tell people to their face, so I leave it to you'.
(Letter from Mark Gertler to Dorothy Brett, reproduced in J. Woodeson, Mark Gertler, London, 1972, p.259).