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Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) Girl Wringing out her Hair Patinated bronze, 1962 26cm in height Michael Ayrton was a British artist and writer, renowned as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and designer, and also as a critic, broadcaster and novelist. This sculpture, rendered in patinated bronze, is a portrayal of an unposed nude, one of Ayrton's favourite subjects. In his book "Drawings and Sculpture", Ayrton muses on his studies of bathers: 'I like to study the nude when he or she is untroubled by my observation, and bathers in general are the only nudes, or semi-nudes, who are not particularly interested in the onlooker.' Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Nigel Balchin, a close friend of Ayrton's, thence by descent to the previous owner. Sotheby's, Lot 128, 11 July 2013. Literature: Michael Ayrton, Drawings and Sculpture, with a Forward by C. P. Snow, Cory, Adams & Mackay, London, 1962, illustrated pl.73 (another cast). If you'd ike to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Piper (1903-1992)
Bullslaughter Bay
Watercolour, gouache and pastel on paper 27.5 x 35.5cm John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Piper spent a considerable amount of time in Pembrokeshire, frequently returning to the landscape of Bullslaughter Bay; this painting was probably produced there in the mid-1950s. The artist captures an animated, capricious bay, characterised by a distinctive colour palette and stamped with irregular rock formations. Condition: generally excellent. For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Piper (1903-1992)
Reims Cathedral (c. 1960)
Ink, watercolour and gouache 21x35cm Inscribed 'Reims' lower left and signed 'John Piper' lower right. Piper loved all things France, and all things Cathedral; in this work, he brings the cathedral of Reims, where France's monarchs were crowned, to life. Piper also produced an aquatint of Reims which was published in 1972. For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Condition: Generally excellent; framed. -
Sir Edward Maufe (1882 - 1974)
Design for House on Round Island, Poole Harbour
Watercolour and collage 30 x 47 cm Signed lower right Edward [Maufe]. Provenance the estate of Bernard Bumpus, together with several other Maufe drawings. Drawing for D Beatty Pownall Architect. A design for an Art Deco house by the coast, complete with seagulls and boats. Maufe is probably most famous for his Guildford Cathedral, the Air Forces Memorial, and his work for the Imperial War Graves Commission, for which he received his knighthood in 1954. He served a five-year apprenticeship under William Pite and then attended St John’s College, Oxford as an undergraduate. He then studied Design at the Architectural Association. His architecture is notable for its strong Arts and Crafts influence; this likely arose from his having lived in The Red House, Bexleyheath, which Philip Webb designed for the most famous of the Arts and Crafts designers: William Morris. Condition: generally very good, save for missing area in bottom right hand corner which has been repaired professionally. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for more architectural designs. -
Ken Howard RA (1932 - 2022)
Hampstead Church (St Stephen's Church, Rosslyn Hill)
Oil on board 75 x 91 cm Ken Howard's magnificent view of St Stephen's Church, Hampstead. The artist's rich, deep colour palette and use of impasto underline the neo-gothic style of the church. Howard died in Hampstead and painted several views of the area and its architecture. St Stephen's was designed in the Neo Gothic style by Samuel Sanders Teulon and he considered it the best of the 114 churches he designed, calling it his "mighty church". The building is no longer a church, but wedding ceremonies still take place there; it was made a Grade I listed building in 1974. Kenneth Howard OBE RA was a British artist and painter. He was President of the New English Art Club from 1998 to 2003. He studied at the Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art. In 1958 he won a British Council Scholarship to Florence, and in 1973 and 1978 he was the Official War Artist to Northern Ireland, and 1973 - 80 worked in various locations, including Hong Kong, Cyprus and Canada with the British Army. In 1983 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA). In 1998 he became President of the New English Art Club, a post he held until 2003. In 1991 he was elected a Royal Academician (RA). Howard was given his OBE in 2010. Condition: very good. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Terry Frost (1915-2003)
'Untitled Landscape'
Oil on canvas, laid on board 22 x 81.5cm Exhibited London, Coram Gallery, Terry Frost: Works on Paper and Small Paintings, 23 September-29 October 1994 Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Craigie Aitchison (1926 - 2009)
Yellow Crucifixion
Screenprint 76 x 63 cm Published by Advanced Graphics Limited (2000). Craigie Aitchison’s iteration of the crucifixion sees Christ upon a Cross with no patibulum (horizontal beam). Jesus becomes part of the stipes (vertical beam), a willing participant in his own martyrdom. The star above his head is the Star of Bethlehem, and the sheep or goat at his feet the Lamb of God. These symbols of divinity, set against the backdrop an empty yellow-soaked landscape, transform this picture of the crucifixion into an image of resurrection. Condition: excellent. Magnificently framed. -
Fred Mayor (British, 1865-1916)
Magdalen College, Oxford
Watercolour and pencil 12x15" In this painting, Mayor catches Magdalen in his usual impressionistic style, with an effective use of splashes of colour and careful use of lighting. Born near Ripon in Yorkshire, Mayor was educated at St Edmund's School Canterbury where he excelled both at drawing and cricket. The former became his profession and he began with a studio in Chiswick shared with Frank Brangwyn. In 1886 he followed the well-trodden path of spending time in Paris, studying at the Academie Julian, and also meeting Wilson Steer and Walter Sickert who influenced his work and were lifelong friends of his. In 1888 at the age of just twenty-one a painting of his was accepted at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1899 he moved to join the artists' colony in Staithes, Yorkshire, where other artists included Harold and Dame Laura Knight. He met, and subsequently married, another artist - Sheffield-born Hannah Hoyland. Married life began by eloping to Montreuil-sur-Mer in northern France where Mayor developed his characteristic impressionistic style. He died in 1916 whilst undergoing a routine operation for asthma, which was required before he could become a war artist. -
Out of stock
Johannes Kip (1652 - 1722) after R Whitehand
Prospect of Cambridge from the South East (1724)
Engraving 57 x 88 cm A view of the city of Cambridge, replete with college spires, by Johannes ''Jan'' Kip, the Dutch draughtsman, engraver and print dealer. The engraving illustrates an 18th century Cambridge defined by livestock and farmhands, as well as its University. The largest and best view of Cambridge, extremely rare - we have not traced any other copies at auction. Condition: good. Previously folded, occasional small losses and the odd slightly toned patch; two joined sheets. Trimmed to within platemark; very rare. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
'Eton College, a scholar on the steps' (early 20th century)
Oil on canvas 62 x 49 One of our favourite paintings. A lone scholar descends the Chapel steps, a human focal point in an oil painting primarily concerned with the College's fine architecture. A blur of green and red sprouts at the bottom of the wall - flowers. In a handsome period hardwood frame. Condition: very good. -
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912 - 2004)
Card for Sandra Blow's 75th birthday (1995)
Gouache and collage 34 x 21 cm Inscribed to reverse "For Sandra, Happy Birthday, with love Willie, 13/9/95". Barns-Graham's modern design features 70 vividly coloured circles; each one is different from the last, but all are geometrically aligned in neat rows and columns. Sandra Blow's initials appear separately as "S" and "B" in the design. Blow and Barns-Graham became friends in the 1950s; both spent lengthy periods of time in St Ives, and made major contributions to Britain's catalogue of post-war art. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, known as Willie, was born in St Andrews, Fife, on 8 June 1912. Her parents were second cousins, and their respective families were well established representatives of minor Scottish gentry from both the east and west of the country. As a child, Barns-Graham showed very early signs of creative ability. It was at school that Wilhelmina decided that she wanted to be an artist, stating later in life that "painting chose me, not I it". After school she set her sights on Edinburgh College of Art where, after some dispute with her father (who was an emotional man prone to uncontrolled anger), she enrolled in 1931. During her time at Edinburgh College, Barns-Graham was taught by tutors including portrait painter David Alison and painter William MacTaggart. Her friends there included the influential Scottish painters Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun, and William Gear. After her education, Barns-Graham made study trips to Paris, London, and St Tropez before moving to St Ives, Cornwall, in 1940 (at the suggestion of the Edinburgh College of Art's Principal Hubert Wellington). Barns-Graham moved near to where a group of modernist artists had settled, at Carbis Bay - this was a pivotal moment in her life. On one of her first evenings there she met the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, who made an immediate and lasting impression on her. She then went on to meet Borlase Smart, Alfred Wallis, and Bernard Leach, as well as the painter Ben Nicholson and the sculptors Naum Gabo and Margaret Mellis. After two weeks in St Ives, Barns-Graham acquired her first studio, directly below the Porthmeor Gallery which was the administrative headquarters of the St Ives Society of Artists. Her paintings at the time were heavily influenced by the Cornish landscapes and the St Ives harbour. During 1940 and 1941, Barns-Graham contributed to the war effort by volunteering in a factory making camouflage nets. In 1942 Barns-Graham became a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, in which she exhibited with every year, and the St Ives Society of Artists. Whilst establishing herself in St Ives, Barns-Graham also continued to send work back to Scotland for major exhibitions held there such as the Royal Scottish Academy's 117th Exhibition in 1943. The 1940s were an active time for the St Ives Society of Artists who received a number of invitations to send exhibitions and groups of works to galleries in the UK and abroad, Barns-Graham's work was always included in these as the Society's secretary, Borlase Smart, thought highly of her work. Barns-Graham's first opportunity to exhibit in London came when her work was included in a group exhibition of six at the Redfern Gallery. This was due to the introduction and support of Patrick Heron, who had visited Barns-Graham's studio in St Ives and was excited by her work. Barns-Graham would later have her first one-person exhibition in London at Redfern in 1952. After a few years of tension, Barns-Graham eventually left the St Ives Society of Artists in 1949, becoming one of the founding members of a new breakaway group named Penwith Society of Arts. The first Penwith Society exhibition opened in June 1949 to huge success - 2755 paying visitors came to see it. Provenance: the Jonathan Grimble Estate; the Sandra Blow Estate. Condition: very good; in original frame. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Anderson Bell (1809-1865)
King's College Cambridge Chapel Interior
Signed and indistinctly dated Watercolour c. 1840 53x39cm Bell was born in Glasgow; his father was James Bell, advocate and his sister Jane Cross Simpson the hymn-writer and poet. Following Edinburgh University Bell spent 1829 and 1830 in Rome as an art student, returning to the UK to serve his articles as an architect with Rickman & Hutchinson, the gothic revivalist practice in Birmingham. Subsequently he practised in Edinburgh, designing country houses, and the Victoria Buildings in Glasgow for the Conservative politician Archibald Orr Ewing in Scottish baronial style. Thirty of the engravings in John Le Keux's magnificent 1847 book Memorials of Cambridge are from paintings by Bell; this particular painting is believed to have been painted at the same time, although not published. The Great East Window depicted in the painting was created between 1526 and 1531 by Gaylon Hone and three partners (one Flemish and two English) and - together with the other sixteen they made - represent some of the finest stained glass of their period. Here Bell has captured the colours and the light of the window in almost magical fashion. It is an interesting view as it records the chapel in the mid nineteenth century. In 1968 the installation of Rubens' the Adoration of the Magi as an altarpiece involved the lowering of the Sanctuary floor through removal of the steps clearly visible in Bell's view and also removal of the seventeenth century panelling around the walls. It is still felt that the chapel would have been better left 'unimproved' and without the Reubens, though the form recorded by Bell had itself been improved in 1906 when Detmar Blow designed a reredos. Blow's reredos remains in storage in the College. The East window may be viewed in high resolution in the series of seven short films - accompanied by music by King's alumnus Francis Grier - entitled Sword in the Soul. -
Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) Bottle and Statue Oil on board c. 1947 38 x 46cm A distinctive still life featuring bottle, statue, and drapery. Terry Frost was a prominent British abstract artist. Frost is most noted for his simplistic abstract forms and unusual colour; he worked alongside the St Ives group and as Barbara Hepworth's assistant for several years, his artistic style being heavily influenced by them. In 1992 he became a Royal Academician, and he was made Sir Terry Frost in 1998. Bottle and Statue highlights Frost's unique compositional skill. His brushwork makes the statue seem like a real nude, who, framed by turquoise and ochre draperies, examines the still life in the foreground. An early work, painted shortly after the War and prior to his adoption of abstraction. For other works by Frost and biographical details please click here. Condition: A little craquelure in the oil above the statue's head. -
John Piper (1903 - 1992)
Radcliffe Camera
Lithograph 53 x 35.5 cm Numbered 110/1150 lower left and signed lower right in pencil. John Piper's view of the Radcliffe Camera in Radcliffe Square. John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Condition: very good. Attractively framed; frame included for mainland UK shipping only. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other views of Oxford. -
Edwin La Dell ARA (1914-1970) Emmanuel College Cambridge Signed Watercolour46x32cm (18.11 X 12.6 in)
In fine original hand-finished painted frame.
Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.ukor call us on 07929 749056. -
George Pyne (1800-1884)
Great Court, Trinity College, Cambridge
Signed G Pyne 1850 Watercolour 20.5 x 29 cm (8 x 11.5 in.) It appears Pyne spent some time painting in Cambridge in 1849-50. This is - for Pyne - an unusually large composition; a fine watercolour of Trinity Great Court, with King’s College chapel in the background and elegant figures in the court. It is a particularly pleasing composition. Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
George Pyne (1800 - 1884)
Peckwater Quad, Christ Church, Oxford
Watercolour 27.5 x 17.5 cm Signed and dated 1849. A marvellous view of the Peckwater Quadrangle, more affectionately referred to as Peck Quad and known for having arguably the best undergraduate rooms in all of Oxford. The buildings on the north, east and west sides of the quad were designed by Henry Aldrich are one of the earliest examples of English neo-Palladian architecture. They were built by William Townsend between 1706 and 1711, while the Library on the south side was completed later in the eighteenth century. Peck looks rather different today - it is now mostly filled with lawn and hosts Christ Church's extremely large Christmas tree each year. In Pyne's day it was lawnless and filled with elegant pedestrians in nineteenth-century costume; in this view, afternoon light slants down over the buildings, and the lengthening shadows cast by the library creep into the quad. George Pyne was related to two founders of the Society of Painters in Watercolours - William Henry Pyne was his father, and John Varley his father-in-law. Pyne trained as an architectural draughtsman and lived in Oxford from the 1850s until his death in 1884, specialising in views of the city and its colleges. His Oxford pictures are both architecturally-minded and romantically creative, often combining intensely detailed depictions of college buildings with imagined pedestrian scenes. Pyne was also noted for his views of Cambridge and Eton, and for his drawing manuals 'A Rudimentary and Practical Treatise on Perspective for Beginners' (1848) and 'Practical Rules on Drawing for the Operative Builder, and Young Student in Architecture' (1854); the latter texts offer an insight into his method of depicting architecture and its surroundings. Condition: very good. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other views of Christ Church. -
Crest Mill, Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire (1906)
Watercolour 56 x 96 cm Crest Mill in Castleton, Rochdale, was built in 1906. It was designed by Sir Philip Sidney Stott, the English architect, civil engineer and surveyor. Crest Mill was demolished long ago. The mill engines were sent to the United States, but the ship carrying them sank in the Atlantic. Scott's mill chimneys all had two distinctive bands towards the top. Stott was born in Chadderton, Lancashire, and joined the family firm of architects upon leaving school. In 1883, he set up his own business, P. S. Stott, specialising in the design of cotton mills - he designed 22 mills in Oldham and 55 elsewhere in the county, plus many more in Europe, India and the Far East, amounting to 124 in total. He became a baronet in 1920, and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Architects and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was a significant figure in Lancashire mills, being responsible for 40% of the spindles laid down in Oldham between 1887 and 1914, and 44% of the increase in Lancashire's spinning capacity between 1887 and 1925. He retired a wealthy man having accumulated shares in the mills he designed. Condition: generally very good; some slight staining marks to mount, and possible faint time staining in areas. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for more architectural perspectives. -
Gideon Yates (?1790-?1840)
1831 View on The Thames with London Bridge from the East Side showing Fishmonger's Hall, The Church of St Magnus the Martyr and St. Paul's Cathedral.
c.1831 29x54cm Watercolour unsigned Provenance: The Parker Gallery LIttle is known of the life of Yates. Even his date of death is disputed with some sources putting it at 1837. What is known is that he spent most of his working life in London, producing many detailed views of The Thames such as this one. His style is very distinctive, and this large and impressive view of London Bridge is a typical view. He is thought to have lived in Lancaster in 1811, and to have travelled widely throughout Britain and the Continent. His works are in public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum. In this view, Thames barges are in the foreground with their distinctive brown sails. A steamship proceeds along the middle of The Thames. The first steamboat patented was in 1729, by John Allen an English physician. However it was not until 1783 that the first steam-powered ship, "Pyroscaphe," was demonstrated on the River Saône. By 1788 John Fitch in Philadelphia was operating a commercial service along the Delaware River were built in the United States. The first sea-going steamboat was the "Experiment" built by Richard Wright in 1813; by this point river services were becoming well established although it was not until 1815 that The Thames acquired its first successful services with "Margery" and "Thames" arriving from the Clyde where they had been in service for some years. Margate and Gravesend were the main destinations. The steamboat in this view is a paddlesteamer, with two side wheels. At the north end of London Bridge (on the far side from the viewer) is Fishmongers' Hall, St Magnus the Martyr Church is visible on the near side of the bridge, and St Paul's Cathedral is visible beyond. UK Government Art Collection item 6701 is another view of The Thames by Yates, also from The Parker Gallery. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.
