Mark Gertler,
British 1891-1939 -
 
Adolescence, 1922;
 
oil on canvas,...

Mark Gertler,

British 1891-1939 -

Adolescence, 1922;

oil on canvas, signed and dated 'Mark 1922 Gertler', 75.5 x 50 cm

Provenance: Goupil Gallery, London; Hon. Sir Jasper Ridley, purchased from the above in 1923 and thence by descent; Sothebys 7 November 1990 lot 53, unsold; Sothebys 13 May 1992 lot 34; Boundary Gallery, London, purchased from the above

Literature: The Times, 1 February 1923; Anthony Bertram, The Spectator, 130, 17 February 1923, p.280; Hubert Wellington, Mark Gertler, Fleuron Press, London, 1925, no.8, (illus.); John Woodeson, Mark Gertler: Biography of a Painter, 1891-1939, Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1972, p.374; Sarah MacDougall, Mark Gertler, 2002, p.212

Exhibition: Goupil Gallery 1923, no.24; Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Loan Exhibition of British Art, 1936, no.158; London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Mark Gertler, 1949, no.23

Note: Mark Gertler was one of the most important British artists of the early 20th century, who developed a unique and easily recognisable style that defied clear categorisation, shaped by a number of different movements and approaches, including Post-Impressionism and eastern European folk art. Many of his paintings are imbued with a strong sense of poise and introspection, and in this sense, Adolescence is a great example of the artists output, with a contemporary review of this work in The Spectator noting that it was a composition of striking originality.

Mark Gertler was encouraged to join the Slade School of Art in 1908 by the prominent Jewish artist William Rothenstein, where he studied alongside Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, Edward Wadsworth and C.R.W. Nevinson, among others. In the early 1920s Gertler travelled to Paris, where he encountered the work of the Parisian avant-garde. The influence of this trip can be perceived in the soft, rounded form of this paintings classically-inspired female nude, which recalls the style adopted by Picasso at the time (MacDougall, p.212).

Gertlers work was exhibited regularly, including with the London Group (to which he was elected in 1915) and yearly at the Goupil Gallery in the 1920s. This work was purchased from this gallery in 1923 by its previous owners, the Ridley Family, for £60. The same family also purchased the Creation of Eve directly from the artist in 1915. Gertlers works are found in public collections including the Glasgow Museums, the Tate Galleries and the Arts Council Collection at the Southbank Centre.

This lot is accompanied with a copy of a letter from Sir Jasper Ridleys son confirming the Ridley familys ownership.