The three (male) virtues. Watercolour / gouache on paper
I purchased this painting (Watercolour/gouache on paper) from Abbott & Holder Art Gallery 30 Museum Street, London about 15 years ago. Artist unknown. It would be good to track down who painted it. By the nature of the painting it would appear to have been created around the time when the Bloomsbury Group in London emerged. (Early 1900s) As you will know, this loosely associated group had a strong belief in the arts with some members feeling brave enough to express their alternative/gay lifestyles through their work - and of course challenging the social norms of the day - Duncan Grant was one of them. The only thing that precludes this work from the group is the fact that unlike the Bloomsbury painters, who composed their works in circles and triangles this composition differs. All that being said, while the work was bought in London it could have French origins due to the flowers and landscape. The size is 50x30cm with a tear at the top left and tears down the right side. It would seem the work was kept hidden since its creation due to moral attitudes of the day. The colours are bright and fresh. The work has been cleaned by conservators who could not shed light on a possible author. I hope you can.
The Gallery offered no provenance at the time of purchase. The author of the work is unknown.
Gallery/Dealer
No
Dear Anton,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry. So that I may best assist you, can you please upload a few better images of the reverse side. You bought it with the attribution "unknown artist"?
With kind regards,
Georg
Dear Anton,
Thank you for your email and response. The research of this interesting, unsigned and well-composed artwork needs a bit more time as usual. I ask you for some patience and let you know the results in one or two days.
With kind regards,
Georg
Dear George
How are things going? - I suppose this painting is turning out to be a real mind bender! Thank you in advance for at least giving it your time.
Regards Anton
Dear Anton,
My sincere apologies for the delay. Indeed the attribution of this drawing is a bit mind-bending. Let's have a look at the facts.
The presented object appears to be a drawing on paper with the measurements of 30 x 50 cm. The drawing depicts three men in the middle of a wide landscape with a mountainside in the background. The men are nearly shown nude and dressed in a draped fabric and stand in the middle of a flower field. The pose of the men reminds of poses from dances and plays of the early 20th century and recite the classical motif of the "Three Graces". The depiction and the style work with the color contrast between red and blue and the outlines of the bodies. The paper which was used appears to be a paper on how it was used for art education so we have here the work of a professional artist.
All this leads to the British "Bloomsbury Group" and the motif with a homoerotic aspect and the depiction of persons to Duncan GRANT (1885-1978) and his circle. Grant used the motif of bathing men many times for his artwork which is comparable to this motif with is connected to nature and nudity. On the other hand, there are stylistic differences to his ensured works, and Grant has the tendency either to fill the body schematic in one color or use dark outlines.
Sadly this artwork is neither signed nor monogrammed so it just could be attributed to
This piece is in good condition and there is no serious damage visible in the images provided.
A fair market estimation would be between 600 to 1.200 USD.
This estimate is based on actual recent past recorded auction sales of comparable items. Retail "asking prices" can be higher and may vary.
With kind regards,
Georg
Hello George,
Thank you for taking the time to appraise this painting. Yes, the work was purchased with the attribution of 'Artist unknown'. The back of the painting has no marks, signatures or writing of any kind. I am unable to show the obverse of the painting as it has been carefully framed by a conservator who completes work for the National Gallery of Victoria and I am not comfortable with dismantling the framing and mounting. That being said, the work was damaged around the edges as you can see, and the paper quite fragile so the conservator reinforced the paper and float mounted it. As there was no pertinent information on the back of the work the conservator and I took the decision to stabilise the work the best way possible.
I understand the importance of inspecting the back of a work when appraising a piece, I always keep past gallery stickers, records and when I can I restore the original frames as well. In this case the work had no accompanying records, nor was it framed. I'm sorry that I'm unable to offer more useful information.