John Armstrong, A.R.A.

The Andrew McIntosh Patrick Collection, where acquired by the present owner

London, Leicester Galleries, John Armstrong,  October 1929, cat. no.11.

Andrew Lambirth, John Armstrong, The Paintings, with a Catalogue Raisonné by Annette Armstrong and Jonathan Gibbs, Philip Wilson Publishers, London, 2009, cat. no.77

Original canvas. There is a very slight stretcher bar mark along the bottom edge, but this excepting the work appears in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals scattered traces of fluorescence and probable retouchings throughout the composition, including but not limited to the female figure and the bottom right hand corner. These have all been very sensitively executed. Housed in a thick dark wooden frame. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present lot.
"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."

We are grateful to Jonathan Gibbs for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

This large early work was executed the year after Armstrong's first one man exhibition, held at the Leicester Galleries in 1928. Included in the exhibition was Armstrong’s breath-taking canvas, The Rape of Persephone. It was considered by reviewers to be the masterpiece of the exhibition with Anthony Bertram praising the successful balance between ‘Greek Idealism, with its pure formal emphasis, and modern complexity of thought, with its planes, mechanisms and it numbers’. There can be little doubt that The Rape of Helen, painted the following year and included in the 1929 Leicester Galleries exhibition, closely relates to the architectural dignity that was identified in this key work. The seemingly modernist interpretation of the classical theme hints at his artistic process, so firmly rooted in design. The artist himself discussed his method of starting with a design or pattern and gradually developing it into the representation of some fictitious event. The Rape of Helen certainly embodies this stylised technique. The significance of this picture is illustrated by the fact that Armstrong completed two versions of it. Sketch for the Rape of Helen was also exhibited in the 1929 Leicester Galleries exhibition and is a half scale version of the present work.