Claude Venard, 
French 1913-1999 - 

La Mer, c.1959; 

oil on canvas, signed lower right 'C. Venard', 100.4 x 120 cm (unframed) (ARR) 

Provenance: 
Walter Goetz (1911-1995); 
Penguin Art Collection, card index no.9, purchased from the above in April 1959 (according to the label attached to the reverse of the frame); 
Sir Allen Lane (1902-1970); 
Sotheby's, London, 20th Century Fine Art, 20th October 1999, lot 608; 
private collection, purchased from the above  

Note: 
this is a characteristic work by the artist from the 1950s, demonstrating his fluid, expressive style and bold use of colour. Venard would work largely with a palette knife, to make these iconic images, highly indicative of the era. 

This work has a particularly interesting provenance, owned first by Walter Goetz and later Sir Allen Lane. Goetz was a German artist, illustrator and cartoonist, who lived and worked in Britain in the Post-War era. He also worked as an agent for a number of artists including Venard and John Piper. Goetz also orchestrated the gifting of a major work from the 1950s by Venard to the Tate collection. Sir Allen Lane founded Penguin Books in 1935 with his brothers. 

Claude Venard was a highly celebrated artist having featured in exhibitions around the world since 1935. He held numerous successful one man shows around the word including at Galerie Romanet-Vercel and Bernheim-Jeune, Romanet Gallery in Paris, Vercel Gallery in New York and Lefevre Gallery and Arthur Tooth & Sons in London. 

Examples of Venard's work are held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris and the Tokyo Museum.