Prunella Clough

Annely Juda Fine Art, London, where acquired and thence gifted to the present owner

London, Olympia, Prunella Clough, Seeing the World Sideways, 2nd - 7th March 2004, cat. no.PC-268.

The canvas is original and appears sound. There are some Artist's pinholes along the lower edge, with two resultant fine losses. There are some very light traces of surface dirt in places. This excepting the work appears to be in excellent overall condition. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals no obvious signs of restoration or fluorescence. The work is float mounted within a simple painted wooden frame. 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."

We are grateful to Gerard Hastings for his kind assistance with the cataloguing of the present work.

In her later paintings Clough worked mark against mark, slowly and patiently building up a series of apparently abstract forms, colours and textures that balanced and satisfied her. It was a slow affair of which she was notoriously reticent to speak. Nevertheless we can ascertain from rare interviews and her private, source photographs that the grids and geometric, formal shapes – clearly seen here in Buzz – were, more often than not, inspired by building sites and scrapyards. The chance mark on a wall or even the roughness of an object found in a skip could also provide enough inspiration to find their way into a considered, finished painting.  

Most painters work in a direct manner, transferring pigment from the brush straight to the canvas. It is surprising just how much of Clough’s painting was made in an indirect manner. Being also a printmaker meant that she was familiar with working in a step-by-step manner before taking a final ‘pull’. This complex procedure filtered through to her painting. She would coat pieces of card with pigment and press them to the surface of her canvas, labouriously building up a patchwork of small, mono-printed marks. An ‘over-all’ texture would slowly materialize and this might be partially obliterated or reworked with further velatures and glazes. She created stencils from chicken mesh, perforated sheet metal and hole-punched hardboard. These were held against the canvas as she dabbed and sprayed pigment through them. Scratchings and scrapings and the removal of pigment was also an important part of the process. Despite this, Clough always maintained she was not an abstract painter but that her imagery was anchored in things seen. In 1982, having been asked, in a rare interview, if her inspiration lay in what her eye perceived or in what she imagined, she replied:

'Where do the paintings come from – would be a better question. Just glanced at – perhaps in passing, noticed rather than stared at. Sometimes that settles on you and is [not] something studied. Observation, detachment, replacement. Well it’s just paint, in the end, and you just push it around ’till it works – that’s all. You get better at it over the years but you build up your marks and your way of doing things. And art makes art – it doesn’t just come from things that you see, you know. You’ve just got to keep on doing things – pushing stones up hills!'  (Prunella Clough, from an interview with Gerard Hastings, June 1982).

Gerard Hastings.