JOHN PIPER C.H. (BRITISH 1903-1992) §
POINTE DU CHATEAU, BRITTANY, c.1960
£15,120
Auction: MODERN MADE Part I | 31 October 2024 | Lots 41 to 79
Description
oil on canvas
Dimensions
71.6cm x 91.6cm (28 ¼in x 36 1/8in)
Provenance
with Marlborough Fine Art, London (mis-labelled as Garn Fawr);
Sotheby's London, Modern British & Irish Art, 5 December 2001, lot 54 (sold as Garn Fawr), where acquired by the present owner.
Footnote
Exhibited:
Portland Gallery, London, John Piper (1903-1992), 22 February - 10 March 2023, p. 23, illustrated in catalogue.
Pointe de Chateau, Brittany was painted on one of Piper’s frequent visits to the French peninsula during the 1960s, where he studied and drew the rocky beaches repeatedly. The current work is markedly different from Piper’s earlier portrayals of the mountains of Snowdonia or the quarries of Portland, which are far more literal representations. Pointe de Chateau, by contrast, is much more abstract, the landscape providing a starting-off point for layers of luminous colour, broad gestural brushstrokes and spontaneous lines of black that dance around the canvas, outlining the stones, cliffs and buildings but also acting independently, as gestures in their own right. Piper is thought to have been inspired by the exhibitions of American Abstract Expressionism at the Tate in the late 50s, where he would have seen works by the likes of Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.
The significance of this work - in particular, the suggestion that it shows the immediate influence of American painting - has only recently come to light, following a reappraisal of its true date of execution and subject matter, as the painting had previously been mis-labelled by Piper's dealers.