Graham Sutherland, O.M.

Hanover Gallery, London
Frankland Dark, London
Marlborough Gallery, London, where acquired by the parents of the present owner, circa 1960s

London, Hanover Gallery, Paintings by Graham Sutherland, 2nd June - 11th July 1948, cat. no.15. 

Robert Melville (intro.), Graham Sutherland, The Ambassador Editions, London, 1950, cat. no.52, illustrated;
Douglas Cooper, The Work of Graham Sutherland, Lund Humphries, London, 1961, cat. no.99a, p.78, illustrated;
Francesco Arcangeli, Graham Sutherland, Fratelli Fabbri Editori, Milan, 1973, cat. no.66, p.35, illustrated;
John Hayes, The Art of Graham Sutherland, Phaidon, Oxford, 1980, cat. no.80, p.113, illustrated.

The following report has been kindly prepared by Stuart Sanderson, or Stuart Sanderson Paintings Conservation, 69 Rylett Crescent London W12 9RP. The surface of the painting is uneven with a slightly grubby appearance. The support board has a lifting break in the centre. The nature of the artist's paint in that part of the composition indicate this fault was there when the artist applied his paint. The same with the horizontal runs of gold paint at the base. There is original paint over these in places. The areas of surface bloom are superficial, and the paint is not affected. There are some fine but deep drying cracks in the background. There is a small chip of missing paint visible at the bottom left corner under the frame, and another small loss in the pale area. Under Ultra-Violet light some brushmarks fluoresce, but despite these not matching the surrounding paint, they have the confidence and feel of the artist's hand. Housed in a thick gilt frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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Still Life with Banana Leaf was executed in 1947, an important year for Sutherland as he made his first visit to the South of France that summer. He was to return for prolonged periods each year until he and Kathleen purchased a villa at Menton, in 1955, which was to become their principal home.

Still Life with Banana Leaf belongs to a group of works, produced in the immediate post-war period which reflect Sutherland's engagement with the new subjects and colours available to him in the South of France. His interest in the flora and plant life of the Mediterranean region yielded some powerful material for Sutherland and a new range of subject matter entered his paintings, such as vines, palms, cicadas and gourds. The spiky and anthropomorphic shapes of the palm trees particularly caught Sutherland's eye and became a frequent motif in his work of 1947 and 1948.  The thick-ribbed and rubbery texture of the banana leaf must have appeared highly exotic to the British audience in the austerity of the immediate post-war period. These exotic forms are reminiscent of the organic themes of the thorn trees and the gnarled Welsh hedgerows which had preoccupied Sutherland prior to World War II, for example Red Tree, 1936 (Corporate Collection, London).  In Still Life with Banana Leaf, we see Sutherland drawing together these earlier organic themes which he enhances with the new vibrant colours of the Mediterranean.  

In this post-war period, Sutherland was aspiring to become more international and wanted to move away from being categorised as a provincial English Neo-Romantic. In a letter to the New Statesman he makes this clear: 'I do not deny that I received adolescent stimulus from Palmer and Blake; but that does not mean that I turn my back on Paris’ (Sutherland, quoted in Martin Hammer, Graham Sutherland: Landscapes, War Scenes, Portraits 1924-1950, Scala, London, 2005, p.161). Indeed, examples of Sutherland’s works from this time demonstrate a close affinity with contemporary French art, particularly that of Pablo Picasso. It was in 1947 that Sutherland was first introduced to Picasso in Vallauris, marking the beginning of a long acquaintance. Sutherland would have already been familiar with Picasso's work prior to this visit: he saw Picasso’s Guernica when it was on view at New Burlington Galleries in 1938 and the direct impact of this work can be seen in his crucifixions of this period.  

In its composition and palette Still Life with Banana Leaf is reminiscent of Picasso's still life Dish of Pears, 1936 (Tate, London).  However, in this strong and textural work, Sutherland demonstrates his own originality in his interpretation of the natural forms he observed. The familiar organic image of the banana leaf and traditional `still life on a table' composition is transformed into a flat abstract pattern of vivid colours and defined forms which are highlighted by the plain white background of the work. This work was included in Sutherland’s successful one man show in London and second show in America in 1948.