John Craxton, R.A.

Christopher Hull Gallery, London,14 October 1990

London, Christopher Hull Gallery, John Craxton, 1988, no.2

Ian Collins, John Craxton, Farnham, 2011, p.147, illustrated fig.179

Original canvas. There are a couple of scattered, light traces of surface matter, with a small area of cracking to the canvas fold in the very top left corner, with a small fleck of resultant loss. There is a further, tiny fleck of loss to the extreme right hand edge, with one or two further handling marks apparent upon close inspection. There is a fine area of isolated craquelure to the top right quadrant, just behind the boy's hair, but this excepting the work appears in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals a small area of fluorescence and possible retouching to the centre of the right hand edge in the pink, with further traces that do not suggest retouching appearing elsewhere. Housed in a thick painted wooden frame, set within a cream linen-textured mount.
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Exiled from Greece under the Colonels, John Craxton was finally able to return to Crete from 1977 and his art enjoyed a renaissance thereafter. In the 1980s, working for a series of exhibitions at the Christopher Hull Gallery in London, he produced radiant pictures celebrating the survival of myth in everyday Greek life. This singular painting was inspired by a stele (headstone) seen in the Archaeological Museum in Athens.

Ian Collins.

Ian is currently preparing the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the Artist's work and would like to hear from owners for inclusion in this comprehensive catalogue.  Please write to Ian Collins, c/o Sotheby's Modern & Post-War British Art, 34-35 New Bond Street, London, W1A 2AA.