Eric Gill, A.R.A.

Sale, Christie's London, 21st November 1995, lot 184, where acquired by David Bowie

London, The Piccadilly Gallery, Eric Gill: Drawings and Some Other Works, 15th March - 21st April 1979, cat. no.25, one work illustrated p.25.

Standing Boy, Side View: The sheet appears sound. The sheet is attached to the mount at two places along the upper edge and the left edge is slightly deckled. There are some very faint handling marks to the corners, not visible in the present mount, and some very minor staining to the left edge and to the pedestal, possibly in keeping with the artist's working method. Standing Boy, Front View: The sheet appears sound. The sheet is attached to the mount at two places along the upper edge and the left edge is slightly deckled. There is a very faint handling mark to the lower right corner, and a few small areas of light staining, including along the extreme left edge, not visible in the present mount. There are a few marks of studio detritus and a few very minor spots of foxing. Standing Woman, Side View: The sheet appears sound. The sheet is attached to the mount at two places along the upper edge. There are two very small spots of foxing, not visible in the present mount. Subject to the above, all three works appear to be in excellent overall condition. The works are each presented in a simple black frame, held under glass. Please telephone the department on +44 (0) 207 293 6424 if you have any questions regarding the present work.
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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."

In 1911 Roger Fry commissioned Eric Gill to carve a large stone sculpture to stand in his terraced garden at his house called Durbins, situated on a hill outside Guildford. Gill carved a seven foot high figure of the Virgin Mary semi-naked, and Fry felt that he could not accept it. A second, smaller and less controversial figure, was then proposed and these three drawings are studies for that sculpture. They show a naked youth with one foot in front of the other and both hands behind his head, and a semi-clothed female figure with her hands resting on her thighs. Fry liked the sketches and Gill amalgamated them into the figure of a woman with her hands behind her head, naked from the waist up and her legs clothed by a long skirt. He used his sister Angela as a model for these new drawings, and then carved a figure just under five feet high. Fry was happy with this  new sculpture and showed it in his Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition at the Grafton Galleries, London in the winter of 1912. The figure can now be found in the Dutch Garden of Holland Park, London.

We are grateful to Judy Collins for her catalogue note for the present work.