An oriental design

Details

Percy Wyndham Lewis (Amherst 1882-1957 London)
An oriental design
signed 'P.W. Lewis.' (lower left), and indistinctly inscribed 'An Oriental design/("Salaam Maheraj.")'(lower right)
pen and brown ink, brown wash
12¾ x 15 in. (32.5 x 38 cm.)
Executed circa 1900-1905.

Literature

W. Michel, Wyndham Lewis, Paintings and Drawings, London, 1971, p. 347, no. 9.

Exhibited

London, Christie's, New English Art Club Centenary Exhibition, August - September 1986, no. 131, illustrated, as 'A pregnant Harem Woman near a sleeping alcove'.
London, Olympia, March 2005, no. WL-011.
Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Wyndham Lewis, 1882-1957, February - May 2010, no. 4, illustrated, as 'Salaam Maharaj'.

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.

Brought to you by

Lucy Cox

lcox@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2243

Lot Essay

This shows Lewis' continued admiration for Rembrandt. A very rare work from the artist's early career, it also bears resemblance to certain works by Spencer Gore of the same period. Lewis and Gore stayed in Madrid for some weeks in 1902, visiting the Prado and studying the works of Goya (see exhibition catalogue, Wyndham Lewis, 1882-1957, Madrid, Fundación Juan March, 2010, p. 99).

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