Pulteney Bridge, Bath

Details

Walter Richard Sickert, A.R.A. (1860-1942)
Pulteney Bridge, Bath
signed, inscribed and dated 'Sickert. Bath. 1918.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
10 x 11¾ in. (25.4 x 30 cm.)

Provenance

Sir Michael Sadler.
Sir Austen Harris.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 21 October 1959, lot 62.
Mrs Beatrice Moresby.
Anonymous sale; Bonhams, London, March 1987, lot 246.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 6 June 2008, lot 31.
with Agnew's, London, where purchased by the present owner, June 2009.

Literature

W. Baron, Sickert, London, 1973, p. 372, no. 371.5.
W. Baron, Sickert Paintings and Drawings, New Haven and London, 2006, p. 451, no. 492.5, illustrated.

Exhibited

London, Agnew's, Sickert Centenary Exhibition of Pictures from Private Collections, March - April 1960, no. 94.
London, Fine Art Society, Sickert, May - June 1973, no. 80: this exhibition travelled to Edinburgh, Fine Art Society, June 1973.

Brought to you by

Pippa Jacomb

pjacomb@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2293

Lot Essay

Wendy Baron comments, 'Sickert possibly visited Bath in 1916. He returned for much longer visits in 1917 and 1918 when he rented a house to live in with his wife, at The Lodge, Entry Hill (on the far side of the River Avon), as well as several studios. Pulteney Bridge, designed to span the Avon, was opened in 1771. Sickert returned to this subject again and again, relishing its mixture of sky, water, vegetation and buildings. In each version he varied the points of cutting the scene'.

The largest and most fully realised version of this subject, (28 x 45 in.) painted circa 1917-18, also known as Pulteney Bridge, Bath (Baron 492) is in the collection of Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Paul Mellon Collection (see W. Baron, 2006, op. cit.).

We are very grateful to Dr Wendy Baron for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

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