John Piper C.H.

Redfern Gallery, London
M. J. Mounsey, January 1944
Private Collection
Sale, Sotheby's London, 11th November 1987, lot 110
Agnews, London, where acquired by the present owner in the late 1980s

The canvasboard appears sound. It is taped along all four edges into a window mount. There is a loss towards the right of the upper horizontal edge, with one or two very small specks of loss at the bottom left corner. There is a light scratch to the black pigment in the upper right corner, and a light scratch apparent to the left side of the middle raised rocks in the background. There is some light rubbing to some of the tips of the raised impasto. There is a tiny fleck of loss to the light brown pigment at the centre of the rocks in the foreground. There are some extremely fine lines of craquelure, most apparent to the yellow, pink, black, grey and light brown pigments towards the centre bottom of the rocks in the foreground and to some of the black pigments at the centre of the hill on the left. Subject to the above, the work appears to be in very good overall condition. Ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of fluorescence or retouching. The work is window-mounted and presented in a gilt wooden frame with linen slip, held under glass. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 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."

'Louring clouds that belong to romantic painting hanging over a bare beach that might have been made for Courbet. At the edge of the sea, sand. Then, unwashed by the waves at low tide, grey-blue shingle against the warm brown sand: an intense contradiction in colour, in the same tone, on the same plane. Fringing this, dark seaweed, an irregular litter of it, with a jagged edge towards the sea broken here and there by washed-up objects...That, in whatever direction you look, is a subject worthy of contemporary painting.'

(John Piper, 'Abstraction on the Beach', Vingtième Siècle, 1st July 1938, p.41.)

The present work depicts Talland in Cornwall, a location Piper painted in 1943.