Christopher Wood (British, 1901-1930) |
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Christopher "Kit" Wood studied architecture briefly
at Liverpool University but subsequently turned to painting, studying
in Paris at the Academie Julian and then at the Grande Chaumiere.
He met Picasso early in his career and became a close friend of Jean
Cocteau and Max Jacob. He first exhibited in London in 1924 and in
1925 he exhibited with Paul Nash at the famous Redfern Gallery there.
In 1926, he met Ben and Winifred Nicholson, with whom he became close
friends. Although in his early development he was widely influenced
by the many trends in European contemporary art of his age, he soon
developed his own unique 'naive' style, accentuated by strong colours
and vigourous representations of boats, seascapes, landscapes and
people. He was a particularly fine draughtsman, working quickly in
pencil and crayon. Christopher Wood became addicted to opium and he
died at the age of 29, falling under a train at Salisbury station.
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Bridge on the Thames
charcoal
22.2 x 28.2 cm. (8 3/4 x 11 1/4 in.)
Executed in 1923 (according to a label on the backboard)
Reference:Eric Newton, Christopher Wood 1901-1930, The Redfern Gallery,
London, 1938, p.78, cat.no.508 (recorded).
This drawing of Battersea Bridge has been identified by the artist's nephew
as being the view from his flat on the Embankment.
£1,650 (framed in oak)
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Standing woman.
Pencil and pastel.
faintly signed
49 x 31.5cm.
Provenance: Henry Gilbert, The Will's Lane Gallery, St.
Ives, Cornwall; Christie's sale, June 4th 1971. From an early portfolio
in the possession of the Wood family.
This delightful full-length portrait of a young woman by Christopher Wood
(1901-1930) depicts the figure in a relaxed pose, appearing to lean against
a wall with her legs crossed and her right arm resting on a plinth. The
arrangement of her hair and the style of her dress indicate that the drawing
was probably created by Wood in the last years of his life during the
later 1920s. Wood employs a beautifully controlled line to delineate his
sitter’s belted dress, her arms, hands, legs and feet in their high
heels. It is only for her face that he uses shading to impart volume and
modelling, to capture her composed, interior gaze and her gently inclined
head.
Portraits of girls and young women played a significant part in Wood’s
oeuvre, and at their finest they are some of his most powerful works.
Although perhaps best-known for his coastal scenes of Brittany and Cornwall,
it was in these female portraits, and particularly in his drawings on
this subject, that he attained the greatest stillness and thoughtfulness
to be found in his small output. Addicted to opium, Wood died under a
train at Salisbury station aged only twenty-nine.
£5,200 (framed)
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The Market
pencil on paper
33 x 24.1 cm.
Provenance: The Redfern Gallery, London
SOLD
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Villa d'Este
red and white chalk on paper
c. 1923
23.2 x 31.4 cm.
Provenance: The Redfern Gallery, purchased in 1945 (labels to
reverse)
SOLD
Christopher Wood travelled to Rome with
Tony Ganderillas in the Spring of 1923. The city captivated Wood and depite
his fatigue and ill health, it evoked an enthusiastic response from the
artist. In a letter to his mother, he described it as 'the mother of the
world... someday I will live here.' the Villa d'Este shown here was 'indescribably
beautiful - nothing has made me feel more or think more.' (quoted in Ingleby
p.74).
This striking drawing from 1923 in red and white chalk captures the beauty
of the Villa d'Este but also translates the artist's enthusiasm for the
beauty of the place. Indeed following Picasso's advice, Wood later abandoned
working in red chalk in favour of pencil, so this drawing is much more
typical of his travel compositions from the early 1920s.
The Villa d'Este surrounds magnificent gardens and was a masterpiece of
Baroque style. Artists and architects as renowned as Galvani and Bernini
worked on the Villa and it gardens. During the Nineteenth Century Liszt
was a frequent visitor to the villa and composed Giochi d'acqua a
Villa d'Este for piano there. During the 1920s the villa was restored
and opened to the public, continuing to inspire artists like Christopher
Wood.
References: Richard Ingleby. Christopher Wood. 1995;
Sebastian Faulks. The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives. 1996,
p. 27 describes Wood's response to Rome and the Villa d'Este.
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Seated Girl with Doll
Pencil on paper
32.4 x 25 cm. (sheet)
framed and glazed in pale beech wood with conservation mount 51.5 x 43.8
cm. (frame)
SOLD
This late drawing, probably executed in the last year of the artist's
life, is neither signed nor dated: a typical characteristic of many of
his pencil drawings (cf. the closely related Breton Woman in The
Refern Gallery Ltd., Christopher Wood 1901-1930, London, 1938,
p. 85, no. 839). Wood's wonderful deftness of touch and sureness of line
is particularly evident in "Seated Girl with Doll", which demonstrates
superbly his modelling of form in the girl's face and balances this feeling
for volume against the pared-down linearity in the rest of the composition.
Although the identity of the sitter is unknown, it can be presumed that
Wood knew her well: her openness of gaze and her trusting clarity of expression
speak of warmth and friendship between artist and sitter.
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