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Lot Essay
During the 1950s, John Piper’s style developed rapidly and - in the early part of that decade - the artist developed a new preoccupation with the ‘forms’ which he identified within his landscape subject-matter, accentuating these within his compositions (a tendency which is clearly seen in an important series of works depicting scenes around the rock-strewn island of Portland, Dorset). Towards the end of the 1950s this interest in ‘forms’, and the formal arrangement of features within his works, was taken to an extreme and some highly structured landscape paintings - within which the forms were fully integrated into what seem to be almost entirely abstract compositions - resulted.
In this context (and with its 1956 date) the current lot, Mortagne-sur-Mer, is a transitional one. Piper presents us with a recognisable view of a named place but within the overall composition there are formal, integrated aspects. As Fraser Jenkins writes, 'To look for an overall painterly harmony was a new direction for Piper, … a parallel, in a general way of pattern and touch, to the work of artists of what was then starting to be called 'L'Ecole de Paris'' (D.F. Jenkins and H. Fowler-Wright, The Art of John Piper, London, 2015, pp. 297-298). Fraser Jenkins uses the present lot (which is illustrated in the aforementioned book) to epitomise this tendency.
Mortagne-sur-Mer (usually known as Mortagne-sur-Gironde) lies beside the estuary of the Gironde river on the west coast of France. Piper’s mid-1950s summer visits to obscure locations in this area and other parts of France are well-documented.
We are very grateful to Rev. Dr Stephen Laird FSA for preparing this catalogue entry.
In this context (and with its 1956 date) the current lot, Mortagne-sur-Mer, is a transitional one. Piper presents us with a recognisable view of a named place but within the overall composition there are formal, integrated aspects. As Fraser Jenkins writes, 'To look for an overall painterly harmony was a new direction for Piper, … a parallel, in a general way of pattern and touch, to the work of artists of what was then starting to be called 'L'Ecole de Paris'' (D.F. Jenkins and H. Fowler-Wright, The Art of John Piper, London, 2015, pp. 297-298). Fraser Jenkins uses the present lot (which is illustrated in the aforementioned book) to epitomise this tendency.
Mortagne-sur-Mer (usually known as Mortagne-sur-Gironde) lies beside the estuary of the Gironde river on the west coast of France. Piper’s mid-1950s summer visits to obscure locations in this area and other parts of France are well-documented.
We are very grateful to Rev. Dr Stephen Laird FSA for preparing this catalogue entry.