Lot 103
BRIDGET RILEY (BRITISH 1931-) §
CHERUB
Auction: 13 October 2026 from 13:00 BST
Description
screenprint in colours, 2020, signed in pencil, titled, numbered from the edition of 125, on wove paper, framed
Dimensions
sheet: 39.8cm x 49.8cm (15 5/8in x 19 5/8in)
Footnote
Bridget Riley’s Cherub is a fine example of the mature printmaking of one of Britain’s most important living artists. Born in Norwood, London in 1931, Riley trained at Goldsmiths College and the Royal College of Art in the British capital between 1949 and 1955. In the 1960s she developed ‘a style in which she explored the dynamic potentialities of optical phenomena’ (Terry Riggs, Bridget Riley, Tate, 1998) and is recognised as a pioneer of ‘Op-art’.
Riley has made screenprints since the early 1960s, exploring and mastering the technique over some six decades. The deceptively simple orchestration of variously-coloured discs in Cherub, arrayed across a plain, white background, brings into play multiple cross-sensory references. Sparks of association are lit within the viewer, ranging from the notation of music and choreography, to braille, morse code and the numbering system of dice and dominos. The grouping of elements and colours, the relationships between them and the compositional use of space, all play a part in an image which appears energised and even playful, whilst remaining static.
Cherub was created the year following the realisation of Messengers, Riley’s extraordinary large-scale wall painting commissioned by the National Gallery in London. The former embodies an immersive experience on an intimate scale in contrast to the communal and monumental character of the latter; both contain many shared elements of the exploration of visual perception which forms the foundation of Riley’s practice.