Margaret Mellis

The board is sound and is slightly bowed in the upper right corner. There are some minor scuff marks at the edges and some scattered spots of staining along the edges notably in the upper left corner. There are some fine lines of surface craquelure scattered to the grey background in the right hand third of the composition, visible in the catalogue illustration and the surface is slightly dirty otherwise in good overall condition. Under ultraviolet light there appear to be no signs of retouching. Held in a wood box frame under glass; unexamined out of frame. The colours are fresher and brighter than the illustration suggests.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Trained at Edinburgh College of Art, Mellis married her fellow painter Adrian Stokes in 1938 and moved to St.Ives the following year, living at Little Parc Owles in Carbis Bay. Friends with many of the modernist circle in London, Mellis and Stokes invited Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth to lodge with them temporarily after the outbreak of WWII . Her early work tended towards a constructivist manner throughout the war years, although she returned to painting in 1945. In 1946 she left Carbis Bay and later moved to the South of France with the artist Francis Davidson, where they were hosts to a number of painters, including Patrick Heron who painted a number of important works whilst staying with them in early 1949. In 1950, Mellis and Davidson returned to England and settled in Suffolk.

The present work, painted in 1956, is typical of her paintings of the mid 1950s with simple still life images rendered in broad and expressive handling within a narrow but lively tonal range. Flattening the picture plane and the objects therein in a manner not dissimilar to William Scott, Mellis nevertheless plays with the reflectivity and transparency of the objects, creating an image whose delicacy is deliberately at odds with the handling.