*Graham Vivian Sutherland OM [British, 1903-1980] Study for ...

Hammer

£1,400

*Graham Vivian Sutherland OM [British, 1903-1980] Study for Thorn Tree (1946) initialled and dated in pencil, lower right pen and ink drawing 6 x 8.5cm Provenance: Private Collection Formerly Sotheby's London, Modern British Paintings, 3 June 2003, lot 244 Also bearing label for the Marlborough Gallery, London Offered together with three Graham Sutherland exhibition catalogues. Graham Sutherland began his series of 'Thorn Head' paintings and studies in 1945, following a commission to paint a Crucifixion scene for St Matthew's church in Northampton, which led the artist to become fascinated with the subject of thorn bushes. The present study is closely related to other known studies of the same subject in museum collections, including an example in gouache dating from 1945, at MoMA, New York (acc. no. 126.1979). The present sketch and others such as the New York example could be considered preparatory studies for the larger versions Sutherland painted in oils, such as the version at Pallant House Gallery, Sussex.