Still Life (Collage)

Details

John Piper, C.H. (1903-1992)
Still Life (Collage)
signed 'John Piper' (lower centre), signed again, inscribed and dated 'Still Life (Collage)/John Piper./1933' (on the reverse)
gouache and collage
14 ¾ x 19 1/8 in. (37.9 x 48.5 cm.)

Provenance

Myfanwy Piper.
with Jonathan Clark, London.

Literature

Exhibition catalogue, John Piper Retrospective Exhibition, London, Marlborough New London Gallery, 1967, no. 17, illustrated, as 'Bar'.
Exhibition catalogue, John Piper: 50 Years of Work: Paintings, Drawings and Photographs 1929-1979, Oxford, Museum of Modern Art, 1979, p. 5, no. 5, as 'Bar'.
A. West, John Piper, London, 1979, p. 63, pl. 15.
D. Fraser Jenkins, John Piper, London, Tate Gallery, 1983, p. 75, no. 6, illustrated, as 'Public Bar'.
D. Fraser Jenkins and F. Spalding, exhibition catalogue, John Piper in the 1930s: Abstraction on the Beach, London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, 2003, pp. 82-3, no. 8, illustrated, as 'Public Bar'.
F. Spalding, John Piper, Myfanwy Piper: Lives in Art, Oxford, 2009, p. 503.

Exhibited

Leeds, Temple Newsam, First Exhibition of Three British Artists, Henry Moore, John Piper and Graham Sutherland, July - September 1941, no. 53, as 'Public Bar'.
London, Marlborough New London Gallery, John Piper Retrospective Exhibition, 1967, no. 17, as 'Bar'.
Oxford, Museum of Modern Art, John Piper: 50 Years of Work: Paintings, Drawings and Photographs 1929-1979, May - June 1979, no. 5: this exhibition travelled to Colchester, The Minories, June - July 1979, as 'Bar'.
London, Tate Gallery, John Piper, November 1983 - January 1984, no. 6, as 'Public Bar'.
London, Dulwich Picture Gallery, John Piper in the 1930s; Abstraction on the Beach, April - June 2003, no. 8, as 'Public Bar': this exhibition travelled to Nottingham, Djanogly Gallery, July - September 2003.

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

Louise Simpson

lsimpson@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2681

Lot Essay

John Piper created this enigmatic work during a period of great personal creativity. It was in the same year, 1933, that he was invited to join the Seven and Five Society, the famous British-based group which included Christopher Wood, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Len Lye and Frances Hodgkins.

The influence of the Cubists, in particular Georges Braque, is obvious to see. Piper had met Braque a few years earlier and had also seen Picasso’s collage works in Paris. Another inspirational element was fellow artist Ben Nicholson who, like Piper, was producing still-life collages.

The naïve style, which the Seven and Five Society actively promoted, suited Piper well and meant he was able to explore new techniques such as the incised outlines of form, the use of patterned objects, wavy lines and collage. Still Life (Collage) is a prime example of Piper’s use of all of these techniques and the result is a work of great lyricism.

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