
Penny Day
Head of UK and Ireland
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Sold for £56,250 inc. premium
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Head of UK and Ireland

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Provenance
Acquired by Mr. & Mrs. Elliott Jaques from the 1960 exhibition, thence by descent to
Private Collection
Their sale; Christie's, London, 21 May 2009, lot 80, where acquired by the present owner
Exhibited
London, The Arthur Jeffress Gallery, Paintings and Watercolours of Venice by John Piper, May–June 1960, cat.no.4
London, Marlborough Fine Art, John Piper Retrospective Exhibition, March 1965, cat.no.120 (ill.)
Literature
Robert Melville, The Architectural Preview, September 1960 (ill.)
Studio, April 1961 (ill. on front cover)
In 1959 Piper accepted a commission to paint Venice for his first exhibition with the Arthur Jeffress Gallery (having formally shown with The Leicester Galleries). The present work was one of two large scale oils within the show, Robert Melville reviewed it most favorably; "with its rich sombre colour, its free textures which so effectively associate themselves with architectural ornament, and its measurable yet mysterious space, takes its place among the most splendid tributes that English painters and writers have paid to the loveliest of cities". (The Architectural Preview, September, 1960).
The present work was bought at the exhibition by the celebrated Canadian psychoanalyst Elliott Jacques (1917-2003) who most famously coined the phrase 'mid-life crisis'.