
Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
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£15,000 - £20,000
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Head of UK and Ireland

Head of Department

Director
Provenance
With The Lefevre Gallery, London
Private Collection, U.K.
In 1939, Sutherland's friend and mentor, Sir Kenneth Clark, became the founding Director of the War Artists Advisory Committee. Official War Artists were expected to record specific aspects of the war effort thus creating an enduring historical record whilst at the same time protecting them from combat at the front. Initially, Sutherland was commissioned to portray the Blitz in London and Swansea but Clark was also keen to document industrial production. As a trained engineer with an unquestionable artistic talent Sutherland had the perfect eye for limestone quarrying, opencast coal mining, steel manufacture and tin mining. The artist was sent to several locations in Cornwall including Geevor Tin Mine located just down the road from Zennor, the title and location of the present work.