John Piper, C.H.

Private Collection, Palm Beach

The canvas undulates across the surface owing to the thickness of the surface. There are two pinholes, one in the centre of the left edge, and the second in the top right corner. There are some abrasions to the edges and a very light diagonal scratch, approximately 3cm., along the upper edge of the paint surface. Otherwise the surface is worked beautifully. There is no sign of retouching under ultra-violet light. Held in a composition frame. Please telephone the department on 020 7293 5381 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
"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."

Although Piper had begun to work with architectural subjects in the later 1930s after his brief but important foray into abstraction, it was the period of WWII and immediately after which was to provide the opportunities which forged a style that has become one of the best-known of any British artist of the twentieth century, perhaps in part because in its odd juxtaposition of the ancient and the modern, we recognise a theme that has persisted throughout British art across the centuries.

The darkest years of WWII saw a high level of isolationist introspection amongst artists and the identification of the architectural heritage, the tangible evidence of the past, with the nationalism of the Churchillian call to arms was almost inevitable. The Recording Britain project, supported by the American Pilgrim Trust, ran parallel to the official War Artists Scheme, and many of those painters involved produced work for both. However, it was Piper who was to become the artist with whom the image of the country house was most closely identified. In many ways, this subject was the complete antithesis of the modernist ethic of the pre-war years and stood as a potent symbol of the past status quo, and yet it seems to fit easily into his oeuvre. Drawing on the precedents of the Romantic movement and his own knowledge and enthusiasm for British architecture, Piper was able to pull off the enormously difficult task of combining these images of the past with a technique which used a variety of media, including collage, to create a manner which is distinctly his own.