Peter Lanyon,
British 1918-1964 - 
Study for Porthleven, 1950; 
charcoal and wash on paper, with...

Peter Lanyon,
British 1918-1964 - 

Study for Porthleven, 1950; 

charcoal and wash on paper, with studio stamp upper right 'The Attic Studio St Ives', 54 x 40 cm (ARR)

Provenance:
with Gimpel Fils, London (according to the partial label on the reverse of the frame); 
Paul Feiler, purchased directly from the artist; 
The Collection of Mollie and Graham Dark, purchased from the above

Note:
this was produced as part of his preparatory work before painting the ‘experimental landscape’ Porthleven, 1951, now displayed in Tate St Ives. Lanyon's finished piece captures the fishing town from multiple perspectives, and this study demonstrates the importance of Lanyon’s drawings as a means to translate his real experiences onto the canvas. The amalgamation of harsh charcoal lines teeter towards abstraction, yet retain his personal sense of observation by lingering on details such as the ‘LADIES’ sign on the right edge of the paper. 

Peter Lanyon studied under Borlase Smart, but came under the direct influence of Barbara Hepworth, Naum Gabo and Ben Nicholson after moving to St Ives in 1939. As a painter of landscapes that tended heavily to abstraction, his body of work is some of the most original and important reappraisals of modernism in painting. Held in acclaim amongst the pivotal artists that emerged in post-war Britain, his work was honoured in a large-scale retrospective between 2010 and 2011 in Tate St Ives. 

Mollie (1928-2024) and Graham Dark (1930-2015) were pivotal figures in Cornwall, becoming close friends with a number of the most important artists associated with post-war St. Ives and collecting and carefully curating a wonderful body of their artworks. 

Roseberys are honoured to be selling works from this collection, featuring many of their key artists including Peter Lanyon, Paul Feiler and their close friend Terry Frost. This follows the sales at Sotheby’s featuring a ‘A Life with Art: The Collection of Mollie and Graham Dark’ in the Modern British Evening sale on 14th November and Day sale on 15th November 2024, which includes pieces by these artists as well as a major work by Ivon Hitchens. 

The pair met and married in the late 1970s, before moving to Cornwall in 1980. As they got to know the artists, they would often purchase artworks directly from them as well as from their friend, William Desmond, one of the co-founders of the gallery Austin/Desmond Fine Art. This gallery was pivotal in reviving international interest in the St. Ives School in the late 20th century and the Darks were instrumental in introducing both Paul Feiler and Terry Frost to the gallery. 

Highlights of the works on sale are the present work, originally owned by Paul Feiler, and Terry Frost’s ‘Untitled (Blue, Black and Grey), 1959’, as well as works by Nicolas de Staël, Patrick Heyman and Kate Nicholson.