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JOAQUÍM MIR TRINXET (Barcelona, 1873 - 1940).Untitled.Three sketches. Pencil drawings on paper.Signed with testamentary seal.Size: 20 x 15 cm (large drawing); 54 x 54 cm (frame).Joaquín Mir studied at the School of Fine Arts of San Jordi in Barcelona and in the workshop of the painter Luis Graner. His style was also influenced by the School of Olot, his father's home town. He soon felt uncomfortable with the official teaching, which was anchored in a conception of realist painting, and so in 1893 he founded the "Colla del Safrà" with other colleagues (Nonell, Canals, Pichot, Vallmitjana and Gual) to explore together the pictorial initiatives of the end of the century. In 1896 they even participated as a group in the 3rd Exhibition of Fine Arts and Artistic Industries, to which Mir presented two works that give us a clear idea of the group's ideals: "La huerta del rector" ("The Rector's Vegetable Garden") and "El vendedor de naranjas" ("The Orange Seller"). Also, from 1897 he frequented the artistic environment of "Els Quatre Gats", where all the artists who were familiar with the European avant-garde gathered, which helped him to mature in the compositional study of landscapes with figures in different planes of depth. From this period are "Slopes of Montjuic" (1897) and "The Cathedral of the Poor" (1898), the two masterpieces of his youth. During these years he took part in the Fine Arts Exhibitions in Barcelona in 1894, 1896 and 1898. Winner of a second medal at the Madrid Exhibition of 1899, that same year he moved to the capital with the aim of applying for a scholarship in Rome. When he was unsuccessful, he went with Santiago Rusiñol to Mallorca, a trip that was to be a definitive turning point in his career. Mir was dazzled by the Mallorcan landscape, particularly that of Sa Calobra, which was an inexhaustible source of inspiration for him. From then on the artist deployed a whole combination of impossible colours, the result of his personal interpretation of the island's majestic nature. The brushstrokes grew longer and became stains that almost made objects and spatial references disappear. In 1901 he exhibited the fruit of this first Mallorcan period in a solo exhibition at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, and again won a second medal at the National Exhibition. After a period of illness that forced him to move to Reus, in 1907 he won the first medal at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona. From then on, settled in Camp de Tarragona, he did not move away from the landscape genre, but now it was the villages of the surrounding area that were the protagonists of his painting. Already established as a leading figure on the Catalan scene, he gained definitive national recognition in 1917, when he was awarded the National Prize for Fine Arts. Four years later he married and settled permanently in Vilanova i la Geltrú. His successes followed one after the other, and in 1929 he won the first medal at the International Exhibition in Barcelona. The following year he won the medal of honour at the National Exhibition in Madrid, a prize he had been after since 1922. Although he was mainly a native painter, he held solo and group exhibitions in Washington, Paris, Pittsburgh, New York, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires and Venice. Mir is today considered the foremost representative of Spanish Post-Impressionist landscape painting. His work can be found in the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, the Museo del Prado, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, among many others.

Pieter Hugo (South African, born 1976)Motorbike rider with Amiloo, Abuja, Nigeria 2005signed 'Pieter Hugo' (lower right), titled and dated 'Motorbike rider with Amiloo, Abuja, Nigeria, 2005' (lower centre) and editioned '4/8' (lower right)archival pigment printimage size: 50.8 x 50.8cm (20 x 20in).sheet size: 62.9 x 61cm (24 3/4 x 24in).(framed)Footnotes:Motorbike rider with Amiloo, Abuja, Nigeria 2005 is an early photograph from Pieter Hugo's wider series The Hyena and other Men (2005-2007). The series was a reaction to an image taken on a mobile phone of the Gudawan Kura, in Lagos, Nigeria by a friend of Hugo's. Translating to Hyena Handler's in Hausa, the Gudawan Kura are a mysterious, eclectic group of men who travel frequently throughout the country to entertain crowds with their dangerous animals.The present lot was photographed at the early stages of the series, when Hugo had initially travelled to Abuja to capture the group on their travels. A strange sight, the photograph depicts both a man and a monkey sat comfortably on the back of a motorbike. The monkey is named Amiloo, whilst the man remains anonymous. Amiloo is dressed oddly in a late 1990s England football shirt and the relationship between the two is unclear. The shirt almost disguises the visibility of the chain in the lower right hand corner.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994)Female Form ebonysculpture: 81 x 16.5 x 14cm (31 7/8 x 6 1/2 x 5 1/2in) including base: 85 x 23 x 23cm (33 7/16 x 9 1/16 x 9 1/16in).Footnotes:Enwonwu understood sculpture to be an essential component of his artistic practice. In an interview conducted on the occasion of a touring exhibition of the artist's work in America in the 1950s, he asserted, 'I am essentially a sculptor, and it is in this art that I feel I can talk to any artist, no matter what race or color. My father was an eminent sculptor and I inherited this wonderful art from him' (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 30). His father, Odigwe Emeke Enwonwu, took up work as a full-time sculptor following his retirement from the Royal Niger Company (RNC) where he has worked as an assistant to ship engineers. Although Enwonwu was only three when his father died, he felt an affinity with sculptural techniques which he ascribed to his artistic familial heritage. He inherited his father's tools and familiarised himself with the techniques of indigenous Igbo (and other Nigerian) sculpture which he continued to draw upon throughout his artistic career.The present sculpture evidences the techniques that Enwonwu acquired during his tenure teaching at Edo College in Benin City (1941-1944). Sylvester Ogbechie notes that Enwonwu 'saw the sojourn there as a spiritual homecoming' (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 57). The rich cultural traditions of the Edo Kingdom of Benin offered an indigenous African cultural heritage fit to undermine colonial European claims of cultural superiority. Enwonwu undertook an apprenticeship with Benin sculptors who taught him the lost-wax technique of bronze sculpture and how to carve ebony.In the present work, the abstract lines of the cropped female form are directed by the properties of the precious wood, demonstrating Enwonwu's masterful handling of his chosen materials. The long, sinuous lines of the figure's elongated legs are elegantly crossed to emphasise the curve of her hips. The resultant exaggerated feminine form recalls Enwonwu's glorification of the female body across his oeuvre as a symbol of nationalistic regenerative power as Nigeria strove to establish its own postcolonial identity in the mid-twentieth century. BibliographySylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Gerard Sekoto (South African, 1913-1993)Three Children signed and dated 'G SEKOTO/ '67' (lower right); bears 'Upper Grosvenor Galleries' label (verso)oil on canvas 79 x 99cm (31 1/8 x 39in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe collection of Paul Koston;Thence by direct descent to the present owner.Painted in 1967, the present work exemplifies the blue palette that dominated Gerard Sekoto's work in the sixties, while offering an unusual compositional strategy which demonstrates the South African artist's enduring impetus towards innovation within his painterly practice. The figures of three boys fill the pictorial plane. Set against Sekoto's signature dappled blue background which proliferated in his works of the 1960s, the boys are interconnected through touch as their hands and arms overlap.The colour scheme employed in the work is more commonly featured in his series of bust portraits, primarily of women, which he began in 1960. He explained, '[t]he reason for my using the blue was merely because I chose it and that it was sufficiently strong to contrast with warmer colours... I just felt it dominant to use for the positive expression of my heads' (Lindop, 1988: p. 212). In the present work, the cool-hued skin of the figures is contrasted with the red spherical object at the centre of the work. Grasped between the hands of the middle boy, the globular form offers a focus point around which the other compositional elements of the painting are arranged.The present work was acquired from the artist by his long-time friend Paul Koston soon after it was painted. The pair first met when Sekoto relocated from Sophiatown, Johannesburg to Cape Town in 1942. Upon his arrival, his informal mentor Brother Roger Castle, a teacher and well-known patron of black artists, introduced Sekoto to a network of artists and gallerists. Alongside the artists Peter Clark and Alexis Preller, the young artist met Paul Koston who had established a reputation as a prolific art collector. Koston was an active figure in the Socialist movement and acted as the secretary of the Independent Labour Party as well as joining the Lenin Club, followed by the Workers Party of South Africa. He also owned and ran Modern Books, the primary outlet for Marxist books in Cape Town. When Sekoto left South Africa for Paris in 1947, Koston followed the artist to Europe, relocating to London in the late 1950s and visiting Paris around three times a year. In their biography of the artist, N Chabani Manganyi relates that Koston 'saw a great deal of Sekoto in the 1960s', the decade in which the present work was created and, subsequently, acquired (N Chabani Manganyi, 2004: p. 106). A portrait of the collector by the artist captures the close intimacy of their friendship. Painted in 1978, Sekoto depicts Koston in a seated position. The pale blue tone of his skin and piercing gaze is contrasted with the vivid cobalt blue stripes that extend in a diagonal motion across his collared shirt. In 1967, the year in which the present work was created, Sekoto had just returned to Paris from Senegal. His experience in West Africa had a marked impact on his practice. Sekoto had been invited to Senegal to participate in the First International Festival of Negro Arts. At the close of the festival, he chose to remain in the country with his Brazilian friend, Tiberio. The pair ultimately spent a year in Senegal which culminated in a two-person exhibition at the Théâtre Daniel Sorano early in 1967. Sekoto recalled that when he returned to Paris, 'I had a big collection of sketches from which to work, and I had brought along a few paintings done over there' (Lindop, 1988: p. 39). Notably, he used this period to experiment with his signature blue palette while recording his encounters with the Senegalese people. The present work may well have been a product of the artist's travels across the country.BibliographyBarbara Lindop, Gerard Sekoto (Randburg, Broederstroom Press, 1988)N Chabani Manganyi, Gerard Sekoto: 'I am an African' (Johannesburg, Wits University Press, 2004).For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Gerard Sekoto (South African, 1913-1993)Woman crossing the road oil on canvas 45.5 x 35.5cm (17 15/16 x 14in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe collection of Nadine Gordimer, South Africa;Acquired from the above;A private collection. ExhibitedThe Gerard Sekoto Foundation/Wits Art Museum, South Africa, 'Song for Sekoto 1913-2013, April 24 - June 2, 2013.IllustratedThe Gerard Sekoto Foundation/Wits Art Museum, South Africa, 'Song for Sekoto 1913-2013, April 24 - June 2, 2013, p. 30.LiteratureLindop, B, (Ed.) Song for Sekoto 1913-2013, The Gerard Sekoto Foundation, Craighall Park, Johannesburg, 2013, page 30.The present lot, Woman crossing the road is a brilliant example of Sekoto's social realism, with its subject of everyday South African urban life, and was painted before his self-chosen exile in 1947. Sekoto spent his formative years in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria, gaining insights into the conditions under which the South African people lived during a period of dramatic social change. In particular, Sekoto explored and documented the economic, and social changes that had a negative impact on black South Africans in this era.Sekoto started his career as a teacher, before choosing to concentrate on art. He began his studies in Johannesburg in 1939, and his artistic talent was soon noticed. That same year he was encouraged to exhibit his work at the prestigious South African Art Academy's exhibition, where his paintings continued to be shown in the years that followed. His canvases were also displayed at the Gainsborough Gallery, and as a result of a successful exhibition there in 1942, Sekoto was able to realise his dream of moving to Cape Town. This was part of a greater plan of leaving South Africa, which he eventually did in 1947, never to return. The following year the National Party won the election in South Africa and began implementing Apartheid laws.Sekoto followed the events from his exile and painted memories of his homeland and the people who lived there. Sekoto's position as one of South Africa's most important modernists was confirmed with a retrospective exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, with a honorary doctorate from the University of Witwaterstand in 1989, and later with a retrospective entitled 'Song for Sekoto 1913-2013' at the Wits Art Museum (where the painting in the auction was exhibited). Sekoto's work is also included in several public collections such as at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington D.C. and the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town. Sekoto died in Paris in 1993, the year before Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress won the election and apartheid was abolished.The present lot also bears a framer's label of Max Wolpe at Lelie Street, Cape Town. Max Wolpe was the father of the renowned Cape Town art dealer Joe Wolpe.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Irma Stern (South African, 1894-1966)Siesta signed and dated 'Irma Stern 1961' (lower left)oil on canvas92 x 73cm (36 1/4 x 28 3/4in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceA private collection.LiteratureMarion Arnold, Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye (Vlaeberg: Fernwood Press, 1995), p. 93 (illustrated)Irma Stern and her companion Dudley Welch spent around six months in Alicante on Spain's Costa Blanca between December 1960 and June 1961. Stern stayed in a suite in the Hotel Carlton in which she converted the sitting room into a studio for the duration. It was probably the extravagance of this accommodation that prompted the local Spanish press to describe her as a millionairess, as she reported in a letter to her Johannesburg friends, Richard and Freda Feldman, in February 1961 (Klopper, 2017: p. 207). More to her liking was their description of her as 'La Picasso', explicitly comparing her to the greatest artist of her generation.In the same letter, she wrote that 'we drive out all the days and I come back and paint in the studio'. A large number of drawings of hill-top villages and agricultural workers from 1961 preserved in the Irma Stern Museum and elsewhere attest to this pattern. Amongst them is the drawing in ballpoint and crayon (Irma Stern Trust #1253) that surely served as a model for the present painting. The composition represents women labourers enjoying a siesta during a harvest. Works from this time feature harvests of olives, apples, grapes, and pimentos, and the little red dots in the baskets in the painting presumably represent tomatoes.Neville Dubow described Stern's Harvest series of 1962 – to which the present work may be related – as 'lyrical figures-in-landscape compositions, loosely knit, yet held together by sweeping rhythms that bind earth, workers and sky' (Dubow, 1974: p. 21). Marion Arnold, in the caption to her reproduction of this work, wrote that '[t]he relationship of the peasant harvesters to the earth is emphasized in this late painting. Not only are the figures recumbent, but the earth plane dominates the composition' (Arnold, 1995: p. 93). In turn, Andrea Lewis described such late harvest scenes as 'spontaneously rendered hedonistic images symbolizing fertility and fecundity' (Lewis, 2015: p. 41). There may be such allegorical meaning in these works, but Arnold is undoubtedly right when she added that Stern 'sees the European peasant as she saw Africans, as people detached from an historical context and devoid of sociological meaning' (Arnold, 1995: p. 76). Despite the fact that the political economy of the Costa Blanca was changing at this time, Stern insisted on describing the peasants she represented as 'happy, friendly people. They're always singing' (The Cape Times, 7 July 1961). In effect, Spanish peasants constituted a Georgic idyll for Stern in a career that featured several natural paradise subjects.On her return to Cape Town, Stern showed her Alicante work in the exhibition Paintings from Spain at the South African Association of Arts Gallery in Cape Town from 31 August to 9 September 1961. A Paris customs stamp (Douane Paris Crapells) on the reverse of the painting suggests that Stern may have shipped her Spanish canvasses through France on their way to Cape Town. Siesta was listed as no. 8 in the exhibition catalogue and stated to be loaned by S.T. Schach, Esq. (who also loaned no. 20 Girl with Jug). Photographs of these two works in Stern's scrapbooks are annotated 'sold Mr Schach, Sea Point'. In turn, Stern's Cashbook records that 'Mr Schach paid by cheque L320/R640', presumably from Stern's studio in the short interval between her return from Alicante and the opening of the exhibition. Stern showed the residue of this exhibition, including no. 39 Siesta, still on loan from S.T. Schach, at the new Adler-Fielding Gallery in Johannesburg in November of that year. Siesta appears to have been acquired by the present owner's family soon after this time. So successful were these exhibitions that Stern, with Dudley Welch, returned to Alicante in October 1962 at the end of another extended European tour.In terms of style, Arnold's reading of the earth plane dominating the composition of Siesta is realised by the extreme height of the horizon in the format. Instead of the earth plane appearing more or less recessive, the absence of sky and the bright white of the building – which is not represented in the original drawing – tend to relate to the vertical plane of the picture surface. This impression is reinforced by the prostrate form of the labourers who, if standing, would be perpendicular to the ground and so reinforce a regular horizontal reading of that plane, but appear now to be part of the same steep plane as the ground: in fact, perspective in this painting depends primarily on the diminishing scale of the figures which, obviously, provides a very uncertain measurement. Through this negation of pictorial space, Stern creates an almost flat picture surface for the description of her subjects. As Dubow noted of Stern at this time, compared with her work of the forties 'her paint was applied less densely. The brush strokes became more gestural, more calligraphic, with a quick luxuriant scrawl establishing the line of a profile, the gesture of a hand or a foot' (Dubow, 1974, p. 21). Undoubtedly, the 'sweeping rhythms' and freedom of Stern's treatment of her Spanish peasant subjects relate to her understanding of them as paradoxically liberated in the agricultural labour they perform and the idyllic sense of community they express.BibliographyNeville Dubow, Irma Stern (Cape Town: C. Struik Publishers, 1974)Marion Arnold, Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye (Vlaeberg: Fernwood Press, 1995)Andrea Lewis, 'The Life of Irma Stern', in Brushing up on Stern, Featuring Works from the Permanent Collection of the Iziko South African National Gallery (Cape Town: Iziko Museums of South Africa, 2015), pp. 30-41Sandra Klopper, Irma Stern: Are You Still Alive? Stern's life and art seen through her letters to Richard and Freda Feldman, 1934-1966 (Cape Town: Orisha Publishing, 2017).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Irma Stern (South African, 1894-1966)Still life of fish signed and dated 'Irma Stern/ 1939' (centre right)oil on canvas49.7 x 59.7cm (19 9/16 x 23 1/2in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceA private collection.Irma Stern is justly celebrated for her magnificent still lifes of generous bunches of flowers in splendid vases created between the late 1930s and the early 1950s. Less well-known, but arguably more interesting thematically, are her still lifes of objects in her collection, books, and food items including fruit, vegetables and, as in the present work, fish. The catalogues of Stern's exhibitions, preserved in the artist's archive at the National Library of South Africa, reveal several still life works created before 1939 (the date of the present work) that feature fish as the sole or major part of the composition. Several of these works are illustrated in photographs in Stern's scrapbooks. A work titled Tropical Fish (listed as no. 16) was exhibited at Martin Melck House, Cape Town, in February 1940. This was Stern's first exhibition since her initial visit to Zanzibar between June and October the previous year. The descriptor 'tropical' in the title of this work – which has been lost over the years – strongly suggests that the painting was made in Zanzibar. Tropical Fish was exhibited again at the Gainsborough Gallery, Johannesburg, in December 1940 (listed, again, as no. 16). A work described as Zanzibar Fish, with dimensions very close to the present work, appears in the catalogue of the Homage to Irma Stern exhibition held at the South African National Gallery in 1968 and listed as from the collection of Mr J. Wolpe, a major Cape Town dealer. In a misreading of Stern's habitually poor writing, the work is dated in the catalogue of this exhibition to 1934 which precedes Stern's first visit to Zanzibar by five years. The painting passed to the present owner's family soon after this time. The fish in the present still life have been identified by a marine biologist as 'tropical reef fishes' such as might have been seen by Irma Stern in the fish market of Zanzibar – and perhaps even purchased for her own table. Stern recorded her impressions of the fish market in her book Zanzibar which, although only published in 1948, clearly drew on both her visits to the island in 1939 and 1945: 'Fish were brought in straight from the sea, huge skites, small vivid-blue fish with yellow stripes, silverly kinds, red roman, enormous lobsters, as made of turquoise matrix, phantastic huge turtles – all come out of the tropical sea' (Stern, 1948: p. 21).Still Life of Fish does not feature the larger sea food included in this account, but Stern's description reveals her delight in the visual appearance of the smaller fish on display. Moreover, the basket in which some of the fish are contained is consistent with the location on the east coast of Africa at this time.An anonymous review of the Martin Melck House exhibition in The Cape Argus (12 February 1940), although not specifically mentioning Tropical Fish, claimed that: 'Some of the Still Life in this exhibition is among the best that Irma Stern has ever done. Her feeling for colour and her sense of design are unerring and make these compositions completely satisfying. They have all the vitality and movement of the portraits [by which is meant Stern's studies of Zanzibari characters]'. Still life of fish may well be included in this praise. The work clearly represents the artist's direct response to the beauty of the subject, displayed in a brilliant colour in a bold, unusually open composition.BibliographyIrma Stern, Zanzibar (Pretoria: J. L. Schaik, 1948). We are grateful to Michael Godby for his composition of the above footnote. Our thanks also go to Bettie Louw, former marine biologist at Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town, who identified the fish in the painting.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (South African, 1886-1957)Trees at Dusk signed and dated 'Pierneef. 18.' (lower right); numbered '1845' on a Johan Coetzee Gallery label affixed to the reversegouache, gold paint and pencil on paper19.7 x 30.7cm (7 3/4 x 12 1/16in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe collection of the artist's family;Thence by descent to the artist's grandsonPierneef created Trees at Dusk in 1918, the same year that he left his job at the State Library in Pretoria to begin work as an art lecturer at Heidelberg College of Education in Gauteng. Made only five years after his first solo exhibition had been met with critical acclaim, the work on paper demonstrates the artist's experimentation with medium in his early work. Trees at Dusk is related to a small number of works created between 1917 and 1918 which are characterised by the artist's use of gold paint. In the present work, the gold pigment is used to emulate the luminous effect of the setting sun as it casts the distant mountain range in a glowing orange light. In the foreground, the twisting branches and cloud-like foliage of the trees are silhouetted in opaque black paint against the gleaming golden sky.Although trees serve as an enduring subject in Pierneef's oeuvre, the use of gold paint is particular to works created in this two-year period. The rich metallic hue evokes both the gold leaf applied to devotional works in Christian artistic traditions, and its employment in the sumptuous paintings of the influential Successionist artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), who died the same year in which the present work was created. However, despite these art historical precedents, it is more probable that the inspiration for the body of golden works came from Pierneef's engagement with printmaking. The South African artist's experimentation with printmaking techniques began at Rotterdam Academy when his family was exiled in Europe during the Second Boer War (1899-1902). He developed a greater understanding of printing under the informal tutelage of the Irish artist George Salisbury Smithard (1873-1919) once he had returned to South Africa. Smithard introduced Pierneef to Japanese woodcut prints, widening the younger artist's exposure to artistic traditions beyond the Western canon. The simplification of form evidenced in Trees at Dusk relates the present work to the graphic language of printmaking, even while the subject is articulated in paint. However, the influence of Japanese prints is perhaps most evident in the artist's decision to set the silhouetted trees against a yellow-gold sky – a favourite compositional and tonal strategy of contemporaneous Japanese woodcuts. Understood thus, the present work elucidates the diverse references which informed Pierneef's practice as a young artist, while simultaneously evidencing his ability to unite his approach to painting and printmaking within a cohesive artistic style which extends across his prolific body of work.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (South African, 1886-1957)Veere signed and dated '.Pierneef 1925.' (lower left); titled '.VEERE.' (lower right)oil on board34.7 x 49.8cm (13 11/16 x 19 5/8in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe collection of the artist's family;Thence by descent to the artist's grandsonLiteratureP.G. Nell, ed., JH Pierneef: His life and his work (Cape Town & Johannesburg, 1990), p. 130 (illustrated)The present painting depicts the Grote Kerk in Veere, located in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. In his handling of the subject, Pierneef reimagines the colossal form of the church through a process of simplification. The sloping blue roof is contrasted with the stocky form of the whitish-grey tower. Pierneef's playful handling of the subject, particularly evident in the billowing white clouds and gently rounded treetops clustered around the base of the church, established Veere as the favourite artwork of the artist's daughter, Marita, who once owned the painting (see P.G. Nel, 1990: p. 130).The painting was created during Pierneef's year-long trip to Europe in 1925. He found Veere to be a particularly productive place for his artmaking. Just as he had previously been surrounded by influential artists in South Africa, including the sculptor Anton van Wouw (1962-1945) and the landscape painter Frans Oerder (1967-1944), he found himself in another artistic enclave in Veere. Here, he befriended the Dutch artist Johannes Frederik Engelbert ten Klooster (1873-1940), who he believed to be one of the preeminent draughtsmen in the Netherlands. The two artists shared a desire to arrange the elements of their landscapes in poetic compositions driven by form and colour – an impetus captured in Pierneef's treatment of the Grote Kerk in the present work. BibliographyP.G. Nell, ed., JH Pierneef: His life and his work (Cape Town & Johannesburg, 1990)For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (South African, 1886-1957)Eglise Saint-Jacques, Bruges dated and inscribed 'Eglise ST Jacques. Brugge. Nov. 1925' (lower left); signed 'Pierneef' (lower right)watercolour and charcoal on paper31.8 x 23.8cm (12 1/2 x 9 3/8in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe collection of the artist's family;Thence by descent to the artist's grandsonThe present work was created in November 1925 during a year-long trip to Europe taken by Pierneef and his wife, May. The couple visited France, Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands, yet it was Bruges that provided the greatest source of inspiration for the artist. As Anton Hendriks, artist and director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (1937-64), writes, '[i]t seems as if, as an artist, [Pierneef] feels most at home in the Flemish town of Bruges. Those who own any of the work he did there will see how well he understood it and interpreted it in his own way' (quoted in P.G. Nel, 1990: p. 135). Executed in charcoal and watercolour, the present work on paper depicts a street scene set in the Flemish capital. The leading lines of the road focalise the viewer's gaze on the pointed blue turrets perched atop the impressive Église Saint-Jacques. Built in 1240, but with substantial later additions made in 1459, the majesty of the medieval church epitomises the captivating beauty of Bruges which prompted Pierneef to momentarily abandon his beloved South African landscape for the European subject. Bibliography P.G. Nell, ed., JH Pierneef: His life and his work (Cape Town & Johannesburg, 1990)For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Vladimir Griegorovich Tretchikoff (South African, 1913-2006)Resurrection signed, dated and inscribed 'TRETCHIKOFF/ SA/ 53' (lower left)oil on linen85.5 x 108.5cm (33 11/16 x 42 11/16in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceToronto, Eaton's, American and Canadian Tour Exhibition, September 1954;Private Collection of Jack Hammell (acquired from the above exhibition);Private Collection, Ontario;Waddington's, Toronto, 29 November 1984;A private collection.ExhibitedCape Town; Johannesburg; Durban, Stuttafords Department Store, South African Tour Exhibition, September - November 1952San Jose, CA, Rosicrucian Art Gallery, June 1953USA; Canada, American and Canadian Tour Exhibition, 1953-1954.LiteratureV. Tretchikoff and H. Timmins, Tretchikoff (Cape Town, 1969), n.p (illustrated)Vladimir Tretchikoff and Anthony Hocking, Pigeon's Luck (London, 1973), p. 205 (illustrated, pp. 134 & 136)Andrew Lamprecht, ed., Tretchikoff: The People's Painter (Jeppestown, 2011), p. 166 (illustrated)Boris Gorelik, Incredible Tretchikoff: Life of an Artist and Adventurer (London, 2013), p. 288 (illustrated, p. 138).In 1952, when Tretchikoff was preparing for his first show in America which would launch his international career, a Cape Town director asked him to star in a film. It would be a documentary set in the artist's studio, showing the birth of an artwork from the first sketches to the painted canvas. Tretchikoff accepted the challenge. Although it meant working under the penetrating gaze of the camera, he decided that he could use the colour film to promote his work in the United States. The resultant documentary, Birth of a Painting, traced the creation of Resurrection (1955).At the time, Tretchikoff was fascinated by the idea that, when dying, the old gives way to the new - a theme explored by the artist in Resurrection. 'The painting was to symbolise the emergence of the soul from the body', recounted Tretchikoff. 'I painted a young girl awaking as if from a dream, the reincarnation of the gaunt, black, crooked body that she had been' (V. Tretchikoff and A. Hocking, 1973: p. 205).Cape Town papers reported that the artist's wife, Natalie, acted as a model for the painting. 'I was so cold, it was a wonder I did not get pneumonia', she told the press. However, the existing footage indicates that another nude model sat for Tretchikoff during the filmed sessions.Resurrection was first exhibited during Tretchikoff's tour of South Africa in 1952. The following year, it was taken to California and included in his show at the Rosicrucian Gallery, San Jose. The startling Resurrection was one of the highlights of this exhibition, and reproductions of the work were available for sale. At all of the public talks and lectures to promote the artist's American debut, Tretchikoff showed the Birth of Painting documentary, asserting the significance of Resurrection within his artmaking practice at this time.The commercial success of the San Jose show enabled Tretchikoff to hold a tour of the United States and Canada, which lasted for nearly two years. In September 1954, among the 52,000 visitors who attended his exhibition at Eaton's Toronto, 'Canada's Greatest Store', was the mining magnate Jack Hammell. He became the first owner of Resurrection.Along with Resurrection, Hammell purchased several paintings by Tretchikoff that day, including the iconic Dying Swan (1949). Later, the artist learnt that this prominent collector had only one painting in his private suite: it used to be a Titian, but had been replaced with Resurrection. The 1969 volume of Tretchikoff's works indicates that the painting subsequently belonged to John McKay-Clements of Haileybury in North-eastern Ontario (now part of Temiskaming Shores). Apparently, the new owner purchased the work from Hammell's heirs after 1958. Resurrection first came to auction in 1984, when it was sold by Waddington's in Toronto. For nearly seventy years, this work, highly valued by the artist, has remained in private collections. We are grateful to Boris Gorelik for the composition of the above footnote.BibliographyVladimir Tretchikoff and Anthony Hocking, Pigeon's Luck (London, 1973), p. 205.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Pieter Hugo Naudé (South African, 1869-1941)Untitled signed 'Naudé' (lower right)oil on board29 x 37.8cm (11 7/16 x 14 7/8in).(framed)Footnotes:Drawing on Naudé's European training, the present lot embodies the impressionist motifs of his time whilst acting as a pioneer for Neorealism back in his home of Worcester. His broad, impasto brushstrokes display his focus on form and colour, while the scene encapsulates Naudé deciphering who he was as an artist. We see him here breaking away from his training in portraiture and celebrating the vibrancy of his homelands landscape. Coming from a family of farmers who affectionately referred to him as 'Artist', Naudé allowed his love of the environment and the surrounding vivid landscape to define his palette, 'changing his European palette to one saturated in sunshine and colour' .His student, Jan Juta, noted Naudé's emphasis on the importance that they 'must feel as well as see' , in order to portray the experience of a scene. It could be said that this focus of embodying feeling within his art was inspired by his work with the Worcester School for the Blind who, when visiting his family's farm, would experience their surrounding nature beyond its visual realism. Bibliography Adele Naudé, Hugo Naudé, (South African Art Library, 1974), p. 14. Adele Naudé, Hugo Naudé, (South African Art Library, 1974), p. 20.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Cecil Edwin Frans Skotnes (South African, 1926-2009)Tribute to Uccello No.2 signed and dated 'C SKOTNES/ 89' (lower right); inscribed with the title (verso)carved, incised and painted wood panel 121.5 x 112.5cm (47 13/16 x 44 5/16in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceEverard Read Gallery, Cape Town;A private collection.The present work exemplifies the enduring influence of the artists of the Italian Renaissance on the practice of Cecil Edwin Frans Skotnes. Born in East London, South Africa in 1926, Skotnes left a traineeship in a draughtsman's office in 1944 to join the South African military forces. He fought in Egypt and Italy, using his leave in 1945 to visit Florence. Here, he met an Austrian writer who introduced him to his brother, the painter Heinrich Steiner. Steiner gave Skotnes his first serious art lessons and together they visited the cultural sites of Florence, discussing the work of Giotto, Donatello, and Masaccio. Tribute to Uccello No.2 names the influence of another prominent artist of the Italian Renaissance, Paolo Uccello (1397-1475). The Florentine painter and mathematician was renowned for his pioneering work on visual perspective. Working in the Late Gothic tradition, Uccello emphasized colour and stylization over the classical realism pursued by his contemporaries. The present work takes inspiration from the Renaissance master's preoccupation with figurative stylization. Two figures are fused around a central red bar to create a biomorphic composite form. The flowing lines and deep colour palette used to articulate this hybrid figure echoes those found in Uccello's rich pictorial compositions. The present work also evidences Skotnes's experimental approach to medium, materials, and technique. After his return to Johannesburg, he undertook formal artistic training at the University of the Witwatersrand and commenced a successful career as an artist, mentor, and teacher. He first began working in the medium of woodcutting in the 1960s. A woodcut print is typically created by carving an image onto the surface of a wooden block which is then coated in pigmented medium and pressed to paper (or another secondary surface). As evidenced by Tribute to Uccello No.2, , the South African artist reimagined this traditional technique as he coloured and shaped the wooden block itself. The hewn and pigmented surface of the present work thus stands as an important example of the ambitious experimentation with technique undertaken by Skotnes in the articulation of his distinctive figurative style. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994)Ututu signed, dated and titled ''UTUTU'/ BEN ENWONWU/ 1992' (lower right)oil on canvas91 x 122cm (35 13/16 x 48 1/16in).(framed)Footnotes:ProvenanceCommissioned from the artist by the present owner's family in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1992;A private collect, Nigeria;Thence by direct descent to the present owner in 2020;A private collection.In Ututu, Enwonwu depicts a meeting of the Ozo, the highest spiritual, religious, and social group in the Igbo societies of southeastern Nigeria. Identifiable by their distinctive white robes and eagle-plumed red caps, the group plays a key role in the communal deliberations that underlie the order of Igbo societies. The socio-political practices of the Igbo community were of particular interest to Enwonwu in the years following the Nigerian Civil War. The Igbo people who had fought for their independence from Nigeria were now facing the challenge of reassimilating themselves within a united Nigeria. Sylvester Ogbechie recognises that, in this period, 'Enwonwu's use of indigenous symbolism served him well as he recast the thorny question of national reconciliation in metaphorical images' (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 178).Enwonwu consequently executed variations on the Ututu subject from the 1950s onwards. The large oil on board, Ututu: Morning Meeting of Chiefs at Old Asaba (1958), marks the first of these paintings. As in the present work a group of male figures are depicted in deep deliberation beneath great Iroko trees. Sylvester Ogbechie notes the significance of Enwonwu's decision to locate the tableaux in Asaba. He explains that Asaba, like Enwonwu's birthplace, Onitsha, is considered a marginal Igbo culture by Igbo peoples residing in eastern Nigeria. During the Biafran civil war, 'the two contending factions called the loyalty of Western Igbo communities into question, and they suffered immense casualties as a result' (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 178). Ogbechie deduces that 'Enwonwu's paean to the regal elders thus masked his anguish at the devastation wrought by the war and served to identify him with these individuals who shared a liminal Igbo ethnic and political identity (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 178).Undoubtedly underpinned by political sentiment, Ututu, which loosely translates from the Igbo as 'Morning', also captures the activities of daily life. A woman carrying a basket on her head is accompanied by a group of children who seem to bound through the air as they pass the group of men. The children perhaps serve as a symbol for the next generation of Igbo people destined to shape the future of postcolonial Nigeria. Painted in 1992, the year following the artist's landmark retrospective exhibition held at the Nigerian National Museum in Lagos, the present work demonstrates Enwonwu's propensity to reconfigure earlier themes in the final years of his artistic career. The significance of Ututu in Enwonwu's oeuvre is thus established both in terms of its political nature and its place within the lineage of his life-long artistic production. BibliographySylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Benedict Chukwukadibia Enwonwu M.B.E (Nigerian, 1917-1994)Mask ebony 121 x 14 x 6.5cm (47 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 2 9/16in).Footnotes:ProvenanceAcquired from an exhibition in London in the 1950s;A private collection, London;Acquired from the above by the present owner's family in 2011;Thence by direct descent to the present owner in 2020;A private collection.The elongated form of the present work recalls the lengthened shape of traditional wooden Fulani masks demonstrating Enwonwu's ongoing interest in synthesising the indigenous traditions of West Africa with his own modernist art practice. Hand-carved from ebony, the mask draws upon the skills the artist believed he acquired from his father, who was also a sculptor, as a young boy.The surface of the present work is characterised by its roughly hewed texture. Significantly, Enwonwu pursued an ongoing project of creative experimentation through his artistic practice which led to a variety of finishes and technical approaches to the artmaking process. Levied with accusations regarding his technical skill in relation to the loose style of his 1949 painting Fulani Girl of Ropp, he asserted: 'This painting can be appreciated in strict aesthetic terms, if I may use the language, and from the standpoint of art. The technique may be disappointing to very good painters but technique in painting is not the criterion for knowing what is good, bad or indifferent in art. Cézanne was a bad technician but he is among the greatest of the Impressionists' (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 107).Similarly, the unpolished surface of the present work does not gesture to the technical failings of the artist, nor does it indicate that the work is unfinished. Instead, it marks Enwonwu's pursuit of new possibilities through his approach to sculptural form. Ogbechie explains that the artist had a deep 'fascination with the textural qualities of wood' and this informed the wide variety of works that he produced in the medium (Ogbechie, 2008: p. 112). Ebony was a particularly meaningful material within the artist's practice, and he was absorbed by 'the specific effects he achieved through use of indigenous African tools such as the adz' (ibid). The present work thus stands as a powerful example of Enwonwu's synthesisation of traditional West African techniques and materials with his own distinctly modern practice. BibliographySylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie, Ben Enwonwu: The Making of an African Modernist (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008).This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Wim Botha (South African, active 1974)Prism 18, 2015 signed and numbered '2/3' (bronze verso)bronze with wooden pedestal, edition of 3 + 2APbronze: 71 x 35.5 x 33cm (27 15/16 x 14 x 13in)including base: 173 x 35.5 x 33cm (68 1/8 x 14 x 13in).Footnotes:ProvenanceStevenson, Cape Town;A private collection (acquired from the above in 2016).Prism 18 (2015) belongs to an ongoing series of semi-abstracted busts created by South African artist, Wim Botha. Botha, who lives and works in Cape Town, has gained a reputation for reconfiguring art historical tropes through his use of unconventional materials including stacked books and government documents. The present work is formed from a polystyrene block which has been roughly shaped using a chainsaw and wire cutter before being cast in bronze. The face of the figure never fully emerges from the carved block. The features remain unarticulated and are further obscured by the intersecting cuts that crisscross the surface of the blackened bronze. The violent treatment of the bust is carried through to the wooden plinth which features a jagged incision to its right side. The angular lines and blackened quality of the bronze sculpture destabilise the meanings traditionally granted to a portrait. Rather than identifying a subject, the bust stands as an index of process, prompting us to reconsider the role of artmaking in the formation of identity and power.Botha's confrontational practice has granted him a number of prestigious awards including the Helgaard Steyn Prize for sculpture in 2013, the Standard Bank Young Artist Award in 2005, and the first Tollman Award in 2003.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Sir William George Gillies CBE LLD RSA PPRSW RA (1898-1973)Mixed Bouquet (1936) signed 'W. Gillies' (lower right)oil on canvas66 x 81.3 cm. (26 x 32 in.)Village and woodland scene (verso)Footnotes:ExhibitedEdinburgh, Aitken Dott & Son, Summer Exhibition, 1974Edinburgh, Aitken Dott & Son, October 1976, stock no.3595Private Collection, UKDuring the 1930s, Gillies began a striking series of still lifes, following his return to Edinburgh to live in the studio formerly owned by his friend William Crozier who died tragically early. The stability offered by Gillies' establishment of a professional studio, resulted in an increased number of still lifes as he was in more congenial surroundings in which to paint them. Gillies had developed a structured style and earthy palette, which would define his oeuvre.In 1932, while still only 33, he was invited to join Sir James Guthrie, Sir John Lavery, Cadell, Alison, Lintott, John Duncan and MacTaggart as a member of the exclusive and celebrated Society of Eight. New members of the club could be elected only as the result of a resignation or death. The news came as a happy shock to Gillies. It was apparently an astonishment to others. 'Why on earth did you elect that fellow?' someone asked Cadell. 'Well,' replied Gillies' proposer for membership, 'seven of us thought he was the right man.' Peploe was Gillies' other sponsor. (W. Gordon Smith, W G Gillies; A Very Still Life, 1991, p.47). In 1934, Gillies was made a full-time permanent member of staff at Edinburgh College of Art. A Mixed Bouquet dates to 1936, and is a rare example of this successful and exciting period that has been in the same private collection for the nearly five decades. It demonstrates Gillies command of the still life genre, and a masterclass in tonal harmonies.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Robert Colquhoun (British, 1914-1962)Figure with music stand oil on canvas76.2 x 63.5 cm. (30 x 25 in.)Footnotes:In the present work, Colquhoun uses intense saturated colour to provide a highly dramatic backdrop for the figure who emerges from a dynamic grid of colour. In the only interview given by Colquhoun, the artist summarised his pre-occupation with form and colour when he stated that, 'Each painting is a kind of discovery, a discovery of new forms, colour relation, or balance in composition' (Malcolm Yorke, The Spirit of Place: Nine Neo-Romantic Artists and their Times, Constable, London, 1988, p.243).This painting has been in the same private collection for several decades.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Joan Eardley RSA (British, 1921-1963)Two Samson Children pastel on glass paper22.5 x 27.5 cm. (8 7/8 x 10 13/16 in.)Studio inventory no. ED 840 (lower left)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe artist's studioWith Aitken Dott & Son, EdinburghPrivate collection, UKSale; Bonhams, Edinburgh, 16 September 2015, lot 68The two children depicted in this pastel are from the Samson family, who lived near Eardley's studio in the Townhead area of Glasgow. They feature in many of her artworks. A sensitive child portraitist, Eardley often explored sibling relationships. She painted and drew the Samson children for seven years or more; 'there are a large number of them, twelve, so I've always had a certain number of children from this family of any age I choose... some children I don't like... most of them I get on with... some interest me much more as characters... these ones I encourage... they don't need much encouragement - they don't pose - they come up and say 'will you paint me?'... they are full of what's gone on today - whose broken into what shop and whose flung a pie in whose face - it goes on and on.' (Fiona Pearson, Joan Eardley, exhibition catalogue for the National Galleries of Scotland, 2007, p.31) This drawing seems to appear in the background of one of Oscar Marzaroli's photographs of Eardley's studio in 1962.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

James Paterson PRSW RSA RWS (British, 1854-1932)Mrs Monteith, half-length, in black signed 'James Paterson A.R.S.A./Moniaive 1896' (mid left), further inscribed 'Mrs Monteith/Moniaive./James Paterson./1894-1896' (verso)oil on canvas71 x 53.5 cm. (27 15/16 x 21 1/16 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceSale; Bonhams, Edinburgh, 26 August 2005, lot 1075In 1884 Paterson moved to the Dumfriesshire village of Moniavie and became friends with many members of the local community, including the Monteiths.This is a portrait of Mrs Ellen Maria Monteith (née Neve) (1845–1912), who went on to build Glenluiart. This impressive Arts and Crafts house was built in 1900 and was designed by Ellen's brother, the architect William West Neve. The fact that Mrs Monteith was the driving force behind the build was not the norm in late Victorian times. Ellen was widowed in 1886 after her husband Reverend John Monteith (1837–1886), the local minister, was killed in a tragic accident. As the manse was a tied house, she had no option but to move out. In 1899, after her father died and left her the substantial sum of £16,933, her plans for a house in the Glen started to take shape in the form of Glenluiart.University of Glasgow Special Collections have a photographic glass slide negative in their archive, 'Family friend Mrs Monteith sitting in the studio Kilniess with fan and china jar with paintbrushes in background. Photograph by James Paterson.' So it is possible that Paterson painted Mrs Monteith on more than one occasion.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Jack Vettriano OBE Hon LLD (British, born 1951)Lady in black, Raith Ballroom signed 'VETTRIANO' (lower right)oil on canvasboard76.2 x 60.9 cm. (30 x 24 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist in circa 1993-4Vettriano once said 'all roads lead back to where I grew up' and those early years of spending evenings in the local ballrooms, the Raith and the Burma, made a lasting impression. 'The faded glamour hooked the young Vettriano, as did the women who frequented them in their high heels, crimson lipstick and beehive hair styles. He didn't know it at the time, but he was storing away memories of his nights on the town - Art Deco balconies, the smell of perfume and cigarettes, black ties on white shirts - which his imagination would, eventually, transfigure on canvas.' (A Quinn & T Rawstorne, Jack Vettriano, Pavilion Books, 2011, p.8)This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ARAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Jessie Marion King (British, 1875-1949)And the Maid was clad in a Mantle of Gold signed 'JESSIE M KING' (lower right)ink on vellum, heightened with gold paint23.5 x 12.5 cm (9 1/4 x 4 15/16 in.)Footnotes:An illustration from The Clerk's Tale from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Dating to circa 1905-1906, according to Colin White, who noted similarity of the signature on King's illustrations for Cosmus, by Minton, published by Routledge in 1906.ProvenanceSale; Holloway's, Banbury, 28 September 2010, lot 180For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)A street corner, Paris signed 'G Leslie Hunter/Paris' (lower right) and faintly signed 'G Leslie Hunter' (lower left)pastel32.7 x 28.5 cm. (12 7/8 x 11 1/4 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentThe style of signature and inscription is datable to circa 1907. For comparison, see Austerlitz Paris, coloured chalk, signed and dated 1907, Glasgow Museums No.U.121.f.01, one of two dated drawings from the same period.Among the group of young artists who founded San Francisco's California Society of Artists in 1902 were Hunter and his friend, Blendon Campbell (1872-1969). Campbell told Hunter's biographer, Dr T.J. Honeyman of Hunter's enormous energy and industry: 'His passion for making sketches, many of which were intended to serve as notes for more complete pictures, made the others look like playboys. None of them felt that Hunter was wasting his energy, for they sensed something big in his work as well as in his personality.' (T.J. Honeyman, Introducing Leslie Hunter, Faber & Faber Ltd, London, 1937, p.56)Street, Paris, a rare survivor from Hunter's first trip to Paris after his move to Scotland in 1906 appears to be the first purchase Arthur made. Unmistakably it shows that sense of something big in Hunter's work, with its intuitive pictorial harmony, mood and texture.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)Portrait of John Leyden in a white ruff signed 'Hunter' (upper right), inscribed indistinctly to label by another hand 'Painted 1913/ Mr Leyden/ Uddingston' (verso)oil on canvas35.6 x 30.5 cm. (14 x 12 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentLiterature Bill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited, the Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, p.68Hunter wanted to do portraits à la Manet and he needed sitters, regardless of their circumstances. The family story to this portrait of Arthur's younger brother, John Leyden (1879-1923) is that because John had broken his back, Hunter put him in a ruff to support his head. Historical records confirm that two years before, John was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that led to spinal cord damage.As to whether any device was worn by John and the ruff stemmed from Hunter's imagination is debatable. Hunter's imagination often transformed objects into something else, such as painting onions as oranges, when they were in short supply during WW1.While Man with White Ruff showcases Hunter playing with opaque paint on a light ground à la Manet, a similar approach can be found in a series of six bust-length portraits, the sitters dressed in historical costume; at least one picture is dated 1914. There is another family story from a young cousin of Hunter's who sat for him around this time. She explained Hunter wanted to paint her long Titian-coloured hair and insisted on dressing her in a purple cloak and for additional effect, a big black hat like one made famous by Lady Emma Hamilton (c.1765-1815), Lord Nelson's mistress. The painting is now lost but it does suggest that Hunter may have studied portraiture by George Romney (1734-1802). Equally, Hunter's portraits in historical costume could have been inspired by his enjoyment of the theatre, a characteristic that surfaced from time to time in his work up until his death in 1931.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

George Leslie Hunter (British, 1877-1931)The Blue Teacup, circa 1928-9 inscribed by Arthur Leyden 'By Leslie Hunter/about the 1920's/A.T. Leyden' (to backing paper, verso)oil on board55.2 x 45.4 cm. (21 3/4 x 17 7/8 in.).Footnotes:ProvenanceArthur Leyden and thence by descentLiterature & MediaBill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited, the Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, p.156Palin on the Colourists, Directed by Eleanor Yule, First aired on BBC 2, 2000; BBC DVD, 2008 BBC Worldwide Ltd. After viewing successive Matisse exhibitions at Bernheim-Jeune, Paris in 1922, 1923 and 1924, Hunter had been more than ready to push forward. When he re-located to Provence in the South France in 1927, it inspired a life-affirming liberation of his own sense of bold colour, form and pattern. By late summer 1928 he was feeling confident that his work had reached the kind of level that would benefit from showing in New York, where he knew Matisse, Picasso et al were gaining a significant following. He was also free to organise it himself as crucially his contract with art dealers Reid & Lefèvre exempted him from paying commission to them where the United States was concerned.Gathering together his best work, he sent it in advance to Arthur. On 19 November 1928, he sailed to New York to reside with Arthur and his family for six months while he scouted for a gallery to exhibit his work. Peploe and Fergusson had recently shown at Kraushaar Art Galleries, but it was Ferargil Galleries who specialised primarily in American art that offered Hunter his much longed-for solo exhibition in New York. In the meantime, Hunter's compulsion to paint continued and this he carried out in Arthur's apartment. According to Arthur's daughter Peggie, The Blue Teacup was painted there.The Ferargil exhibition opened in April 1929 to much fanfare and enthusiastic newspaper reviews including in The New York Times by no less than Lloyd Goodrich (1897-1987) who went on to become Director of The Whitney Museum of American Art.Will Irwin (1873-1948), Hunter's friend from San Francisco days, a journalist of international renown wrote the introduction to the catalogue. He commented on meeting Hunter over the years in New York, Paris, London and Glasgow:'I had laughed with him many times over these recurrent meetings of ours before I realised how much the boy I knew and starved with in San Francisco was coming to mean in modern art.'(Bill Smith and Jill Marriner, Hunter Revisited, the Life and Art of Leslie Hunter, Atelier Books, Edinburgh, 2012, p.151)The Blue Teacup, is very much Hunter's bold statement that he has arrived in his naturalised country demonstrating a firm grip on what it means to be modern. And this was in no small part, thanks to the unfailing support of his cousin Arthur Leyden.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

James Paterson PRSW RSA RWS (British, 1854-1932)La Cagnard signed 'Jas Paterson' (lower right), further inscribed verso 'Chez Madame de Maubeuge/la Cagnard/Cagnes 1923 Jas.Paterson' (verso)oil on panel37 x 44 cm. (14 9/16 x 17 5/16 in.)Footnotes:ProvenanceThe private collection of a direct descendent of the artistHaut-de-Cagnes is a medieval semi-pedestrian village located in the heart of the French Riviera, 20 km from Cannes and just 5 km from St-Paul-de-Vence. It was popular with artists in the early 20th Century, as it was far from the crowds of tourists, who were deterred by the steep climb to reach the ancient ramparts, winding alleys and shaded courtyards; it provided the ultimate Provençal charm. At the top of the village, there was the pension of Madame Lavelaine de Maubeuge, an old house transformed into a hotel restaurant and known as Cagnard. French artists such as Félix Vallotton (1865–1925) were regular guests and in 1928, Mrs. de Maubeuge commissioned the painter Emile Wéry (1868-1935) to paint the Guard Room. Paterson would have certainly enjoyed spending time here with like-minded artists and stunning landscapes. The Cagnard is a luxury boutique hotel today.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

FOUR LIMITED EDITION MOOMIN PRINTSLithographUnframed, mountedImage size: 55 x 65mm(4)The Moomin characters were designed by Tove Jansson, the novelist, painter and illustrator who is widely known and celebrated as the author of the Moomins comic series. These are the first Moomin products that Tove Jansson (1914-2001) gave permission to manufacture in 1956. They were exclusively printed for Stockmann department store in Helsinki and NK Stockholm for the first commercial Moomin products. This set of four was printed by Kromipaino Helsinki on 2nd May 1956.

Arthur von Ferraris (1856-1936/40)The cavalry, signed, pencil and watercolour, 24.5 x 32cm, unframedLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Franz Schlegel (1851-1920)Austro-Hungarian troops in action, signed, watercolour, 25 x 11.5cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Otto Friedrich (1862-1937)Lifting the siege of Vienna, 1683, signed with monogram, pen and inks, 14.5 x 29.5cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Thomas Ender (1793-1875)A mountain pass, signed, pencil and watercolour, 33 x 23.5cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Karl Pippich (1862-1932)Emperor Franz Josef on manouevres, signed, pen and ink, 24 x 18cm; and one further similar by the same hand, dated 1898, 29.5 x 18.5cm (2)Lots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Moritz von Schwind (1804-1871)Portrait of a lady in an oval niche, signed and dated 1857, pencil, 16 x 14cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

19th century German schoolPortrait of Jacques Offenbach reclined and smoking a pipe, indistinctly signed, pencil, 18 x 21cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Otto Reinelt (20th century)'Kirche in Siegersdorf (?)', signed, watercolour, 27.5 x 18.5cm; and two further to include: two scenes of Istanbul/Bosphorus Straits attributed to Alphons Leopold Mielich (1863-1929), mounted on one sheet, 7 x 11/5cm and 10 x 15.5cm; and a house with cattle attributed to Marc Louis Vautier, 15.5 x 22cm (3)Lots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Thomas Ender (1793-1875)A mountain valley with citadel and monastery, signed and indistinctly titled, watercolour 'en grisaille', with pen and ink view of Istanbul verso, 24 x 34cmLots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Anton Hlavacek (1842-1926)Woodland, indistinctly titled and dated '63, pencil with touches of crayon, 14.5 x 20cm; and five further works to include: steps to a barn signed Hansch (probably Johannes Hansch), 21.5 x 19cm; Johan Heinrich Fischbach - mountain village, 16 x 23cm; Hermine von Janda - landscape, 17 x 23cm; Vincenz Havlicek - rural houses and field (incorrectly inscribed Viktor Havlickek to mount), 11 x 14cm; and a decaying barn, inscribed 'Garstein' to mount, 24 x 26cm (6)Lots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Josef Gisela (1851-1899)A cloaked figure, signed with initials, charcoal, 30 x 21cm; and six further figure studies to include: Siegmund L'Allemand - Cavalryman, 16 x 13cm; male nude attributed to Franz Barberini, 21 x 18.5cm; Franz Kruger - portrait of a lady, 11 x 9.5cm; Franz Seraph von Lembach - seated figure, 15 x 11cm; Adalbert Franz Seligmann - seated and cloaked figure, 24 x 16cm; and a pen and ink study of Christ appearing to Roman soldiers, 14.5 x 19.5cm (7)Lots 120 -142, a collection of 19th/early 20th century Austro-Hungarian Sketches and Watercolours.Labels attached to some of the collection verso indicate that they were in the collection of Hugo Friedmann a Jewish Viennese art collector the bulk of whose collection was taken by the Nazi government in 1938, and who later perished in 1945 a few months after his liberation from a concentration camp.Most, if not all, were contained in a portfolio marked ‘Denkmalamt’ which is available to inspect during the pre-sale view.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)The Rainbow, 1944, signed, oil on board, 47.5 x 58cm Prov: Memorial Exhibition: Walkers Art GalleriesLots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)'Barges on The Thames', signed, oil on board, 34.5 x 40cm Prov: Memorial Exhibition: Walkers Art GalleriesLots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)'The Fingers over Drayton, Berks', signed and dated 1940, oil on board, 34 x 48cm Prov: Memorial Exhibition: Walkers Art GalleriesLots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)'Cannes', signed, inscribed with title and dated 1923, oil on canvas, 29 x 44cm Prov: Memorial Exhibition: Walkers Art GalleriesLots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)The Exotic Dancers, etching, numbered 1/10 and inscribed with initials in pencil to the margin, 15.5 x 12cm; and three further similar (4)Lots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)The Parasol, etching, numbered 1/10 and inscribed with initials in pencil to the margin, 18 x 9.5cm; and four further similar (5)Lots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

Charles Sykes (1875-1950)Etchings, various subjects and including duplicates, approximately twenty two in total, all unframed and sold with combination lock briefcaseLots 160-169, a collection of pictures by Charles Sykes (1875-1950), sculptor, artist and designer of the Spirit of Ecstasy mascot for Rolls Royce motor vehicles.The works were acquired by a friend of the Sykes family in 1972 who in turn sold them to our current vendor/collector (now deceased). They represent views the artist produced for himself rather then in a commercial capacity.

19th century English schoolThe Drama in Oxford in 1880, pen, ink and grey wash caricature illustration, 28 x 38cm, unframed The work was reproduced in the book 'The Passing Hour' by W.C. Courtney, Fellow of New College Oxford, Book II pg 104 'Some Personalities of Oxford', Hutchinson & Co., Paternoster Row (pubs) With pencil annotations verso by Randall Davies 17-6-38 who has identified some of the sitters

After Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)Study for Bower Meadow, photogravure, inscribed in ink to the margin 'Best Wishes, May Morris Christmas 1910', 16 x 11cm; together with another after William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones - 'The Song While She Eats' from Cupid and Psyche (X 4); and a portrait print of D.G. Rossetti (6) * May Morris was the daughter of artist William Morris, who was painted by Rossetti

CINEMA, press photos, Dr Who & The Daleks, each showing Peter Cushing as The Doctor, one with Jenny Linden, 6.5 x 8.5, typed annotation to reverse, EX, 3

POP MUSIC, The Who, signed magazine photo by Pete Townsend, showing all four outside drinking tea, 5.5 x 6.5, VG

λ ELWIN HAWTHORNE (BRITISH 1905-1954)PORTRAIT OF LILIAN Oil on canvasSigned and inscribed Lilian (to stretcher and overlap verso)35.5 x 27.5cm (13¾ x 10¾ in.)Painted in 1935-36, the portrait depicts Lilian Leahy who became the artist's wife in 1937.Provenance:Estate of the ArtistThence by descent to the present owner

ROBERT POLHILL BEVAN (BRITISH 1865-1925)FOUR HUNTING SCENES: THE MEET; FOUND!; THE FLYING PACK AND WHO-O-P!The set of four lithographs, 1898-99, stamped with artist's monogram, from the edition of approximately 30Each image: 25 x 33.5cm (9¾ x 13 in.)(4)Provenance:Lumley Cazalet Ltd., London

λ SIR ALFRED MUNNINGS (BRITISH 1878-1959) A DOUBLE SIDED SKETCH, STUDY FOR LORD IVOR CHURCHILL R. A. 1923; ON THE REVERSE A STUDY FOR PICTURE OF LORD IVOR CHURCHILL & THE 9TH DUKE OF MARLBOROUGHOil on panel Signed (lower left), inscribed and dated 1923 (upper left); the reverse signed and inscribed (upper right)29.5 x 40.5cm (11½ x 15¾ in.) Provenance:Acquired directly from the artist Sir Jack Jarvis, Private Collection Thence by descent to his daughter, Vivian, Private Collection Thence by descent, Private Collection, UKThence by descent to the present ownerThe present lot is a double-sided study by Sir Alfred Munnings for one of his most important commissions. It began one day whilst sat next to Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough in The Other Club, a political dining society that was founded in 1911. Churchill expressed his admiration for traditional composition in painting and how he much desired to commission a hunting picture of himself together with his son Lord Ivor Churchill on horseback and more specifically a grey horse as suggested by Lord Ivor. It was decided, and so both Charles Spencer-Churchill and Lord Ivor Churchill made way to Glebe Place in London to sit for Munnings in his studio.  'A signpost to Melton was the thing, we must have a signpost in it ! Changing horses, four greys, with the second horseman in full rig; what a subject ! Mind you put me on the best horse' the Duke exclaimed. The commission is described at length in the second volume of Munnings' memoirs.  The work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1924 in a review recorded in the Connoisseur it was commented 'More plaudits for the equestrian portrait of the Duke of Marlborough and Lord Ivor Spencer Churchill, but also for the muscular energy and movement of 'The Grey Horse'. The finished piece has remained in the Blenheim Palace collection ever since. This rare panel depicts three studies of Lord Ivor Churchill in his sumptuous hunting pinks and top hat. Munnings' swift, loose marks plan out the composition, experimenting with different positions of Churchill's head and hands upon the reigns. Sir Alfred Munnings has used very light, fast white strokes under the sitter to represent the horse. On the reverse of the panel the artist makes plans for the final composition which features Lord Ivor Churchill on grey horse in the far right corner, Charles Spencer-Churchill in the centre and two further greys with their handler to the left. The panel's chamfered edge suggests that Munnings was most likely using one of his slotted study boxes to work on the panel either in situ at Blenheim or back in his studio where both Lord Churchill and Charles Spencer-Churchill sat for Munnings.  A number of other studies for this commission are known to have been carried out by Sir Alfred Munnings, four of which came up for auction in 2006 at Christie's New York. However, it is believed that this double sided sketch, which has not been on the market before now, was purchased direct from Munnings by Sir Jack Jarvis, who was knighted for services to racing and was one of the country's leading trainers. The work was then passed through descent to the present owner.  We are grateful to the Curatorial staff at The Munnings Art Museum for their assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.

λ DAVID BOMBERG (BRITISH 1890-1957)ROCK FAÇADE, NORTH-EAST WALL, PETRAOil on canvas Signed and dated 24 (lower right)58.5 x 77cm (23 x 30¼ in.)Provenance:James Estens, Private Collection, by 1929, purchased direct from the artist for £100 On loan to National Gallery, Millbank from November 1929 until at least 1932John Flanagan Esq, Private Collection by 1958Arthur A. Stambois, Private Collection, possibly purchased from the Arts Council Exhibition in 1958Stanley Mann, Private Collection, purchased from the above in 1961 By descent to his wife, Eithne Maureen Mann (nee Milne), Private Collection (1937-2018)By descent to the present ownerExhibited:London, Leicester Galleries, Paintings of Palestine and Petra by David Bomberg, February 1928, Exhibition no. 451, cat no. 41 Birmingham, The Ruskin Gallery, An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings of Palestine and Petra by David Bomberg, February 1929, no. 20Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Exhibition Park, The Palace of Arts, North-East Coast Exhibition, 14 May-26 October 1929The Arts Council, David Bomberg 1890-1957, An Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, Newcastle, Laing Art Gallery, 17 May - 7 June 1958; Swansea, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery 21 June - 5 July 1958; Middlesbrough, Art Gallery 12 July - 5 August 1958; London, Arts Council Gallery 13 September - 4 October 1958; Bradford, Cartwright Memorial Hall, 11 October - 1 November 1958, no. 16, lent by John Flanagan Esq. (illus. pl. 4)Literature:The Studio, Vol. 104, 1932, J. Newmark, The Artist on Tour, The Rose-Red City of Petra, Painted by David Bomberg, July to December, p. 103-108, p. 108 (illus.) Richard Cork, David Bomberg, (New Haven & London: Yale University Press), 1987, illus. p. 161, no. 200 Petra was uphill work, entailing much inconvenience, expense and the maximum of annoyance - there was scenery of an extraordinary nature to compensate us for the setbacks. Scorpions, snakes, and lizards, have found a happy home in Petra, and the blue lizard who basks in the sun on the rocks of Petra.- David Bomberg, recollections on Petra In 1923, Bomberg left London for Jerusalem. Organised by the artist Muirhead Bone and funded by the Palestine Foundation Fund, his brief was to record reconstruction projects in Palestine. Working en plein air he responded to the intensity of the heat and sun he encountered in Jerusalem by creating incredibly precise realistic works infused with a brilliance of light. It was here that he met the British Military Governor of Jerusalem, Sir Ronald Storrs. Storrs became an enthusiastic patron of Bomberg and it was he who funded and organised Bomberg's two expeditions to Petra in 1924. Accompanied by a military escort to protect him against thieves, Bomberg and his wife Alice embarked on this challenging expedition which took several weeks to reach the `Rose City'.  Working as always, en plein air, Bomberg initially struggled with the sheer scale and monumentality of this city, hewn from rock, feeling "like a tiny ant, labouring along the white riverbed, with all the egotism knocked out me". (Exhibition catalogue, David Bomberg: Spirit in the Mass, Abbot Hall Gallery, July - October 2006, p.82). However, returning for a second visit he overcame this initial hesitancy and went on to create paintings such as The Rock Façade, North-East Wall, Petra. The present work is one of his masterpieces from this extraordinary expedition and so it is unsurprising that Charles Aitkens, director of the National Gallery, Millbank, accepted the work on loan from the collector James Estens in 1929. In fact Bomberg himself wrote to Aitkens on 23rd October 1929 from Toledo referring to this painting; "By this time I think the painting is at the Tate. I know you have a personal liking for the painting after all. It was a stupendous task to set to Petra, from the start, under the [?] and wildest conditions imaginable to do a hugely finished work. In this respect the picture is unique - it has never been attempted before and it is not likely to be tried again by any other artist" In the present work Bomberg has managed to masterfully combine the sweeping monumentality of the landscape with the considered detail of the architectural construction. He ineffably transports the onlooker to this magical corner of Jordan through the freshness and immediacy of the paint surface. We involuntarily squint, shielding our eyes from the morning light, taking in the huge, sheer rock face in front of us and out of this red façade the holly temples and dwellings emerge. As they were carved out of the rock, so Bomberg carves them from his canvas through each painstaking brush stroke. All the more extraordinary when one is reminded that this work was not painted in the comfort of his studio, worked up from preliminary studies, but executed in the dusty, rocky, ancient and majestic landscape of Jordan.Condition Report: The canvas has not been relined. Light surface dirt throughout. There is a small area of craquelure lower centre. Scattered craquelure to the centre portion of the sky. Inspection under UV reveals no evidence of restoration or repair. Overall in good original condition. Condition Report Disclaimer

λ DAME LAURA KNIGHT (BRITISH 1877-1970) HARRY TATE AT THE COLISEUM Pencil and watercolour Signed (lower right) and inscribed (lower left) 34 x 24cm (13¼ x 9¼ in.)Harry Tate (1872-1940) was a well known English comedian who performed in music halls, variety shows and films. He was famous for his catch phrases such as 'Good-bye-eeee' which inspired a famous First World War song written by Weston and Lee. We are grateful to R. John Croft, FCA, the artist's great nephew, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry. The present work will be featured in his forthcoming Catalogue Raisonné of the artist's work.  

A Minton Pottery plate designed by A W N Pugin, printed to the rim with stylised flowers and inscribed Who deceived me once shame on him if he deceives me twice shame on me, in puce and green, a New Stone Gothic platter, a 'Brighton' pattern jug after a design by Dr Christopher Dresser, and a collection of ceramics mainly nineteenth century including blue and white impressed marks, 23cm. diam. (a lot) Provenance The Douglas Johnson collection.

A glass Apple paperweight designed by John Lyndon for The Apple Boutique, 1968, mottled orange and yellow and blue , cased in clear, unsigned 8cm. high Provenance John Lyndon, manager of The Apple Boutique set up by The Beatles, who states the apples were made by Daum.

A glass Apple paperweight designed by John Lyndon for The Apple Boutique, 1968, mottled orange, yellow and blue, cased in clear, unsigned 10cm. high Provenance John Lyndon, manager of The Apple Boutique set up by The Beatles, who states the apples were made by Daum.

A glass Apple paperweight designed by John Lyndon for The Apple Boutique, 1968, clear glass, unsigned 9cm. high Provenance John Lyndon, manager of The Apple Boutique set up by The Beatles, who states the apples were made by Daum.

A glass Apple paperweight designed by John Lyndon for The Apple Boutique, 1968, green glass, cased in clear, unsigned 9cm. high Provenance John Lyndon, manager of The Apple Boutique set up by The Beatles, who states the apples were made by Daum.

* Egypt. An ancient Egyptian vase formerly from the Gérard Moeller collection, of amphora form without handles, pale terracotta body with black hieroglyph inscriptions, 21 cm high QTY: (1)NOTE:Provenance: Private Collection, West Country.Formerly part of the collection of antiquities of Gérard Moeller, a Swiss traveller who passed away during the 1990s.