Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Ceri Richards (British, 1903-1971) The Rape of the Sabines 63.7 x 76.5 cm. (25 x 30 1/8 in.) image 1
Ceri Richards (British, 1903-1971) The Rape of the Sabines 63.7 x 76.5 cm. (25 x 30 1/8 in.) image 2
Ceri Richards (British, 1903-1971) The Rape of the Sabines 63.7 x 76.5 cm. (25 x 30 1/8 in.) image 3
Lot 41AR

Ceri Richards
(British, 1903-1971)
The Rape of the Sabines 63.7 x 76.5 cm. (25 x 30 1/8 in.)

18 November 2020, 15:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £19,000 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Modern British & Irish Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Ceri Richards (British, 1903-1971)

The Rape of the Sabines
signed and dated '48 Ceri Richards' (lower left)
oil on canvas
63.7 x 76.5 cm. (25 x 30 1/8 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
With Redfern Gallery, London
Sale; Christie's, London, 30 May 1997, lot 8 (as Rape of the Sabines)
With Jonathan Clark & Co, circa 2000, where purchased by the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

Literature
Mel Gooding, Ceri Richards, Cameron & Hollis, Dumfries & Galloway, 2002, p.84 (col.ill)

According to mythology, the men of early Rome were sent out from the city by Romulus to seek women for abduction (the classical translation of the term rape) from the surrounding areas, in which the Sabine people dwelled, with the aim of swelling the city's population. The tale proved a popular subject material for Renaissance and post-Renaissance era artists, including Rubens whose painting The Rape of the Sabine Women hangs in London's National Gallery. Richards found this painting and other such examples to be a fruitful point of inspiration. In a relatively narrow window he produced hundreds of drawings, several monoprints and a handful of paintings on the theme. Mel Gooding comments that 'It is in his treatment of the Sabine theme that Richards shows himself capable of figurative description in a great variety of moods and manners, from the lyrical to the dramatic, from the harshly brutal to the tenderly poignant. (Mel Gooding, Ceri Richards, Cameron & Hollis, Dumfries & Galloway, 2002, p.83).

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A.(British, 1887-1976)Five Figures 26.5 x 18.2 cm. (10 3/8 x 7 1/4 in.)

Laurence Stephen Lowry R.A.(British, 1887-1976)People at the Beach 31.3 x 40.4 cm. (12 3/8 x 16 1/8 in.)

Fred Yates(British, 1922-2008)Still Life with Flowers

Fred Yates(British, 1922-2008)Vase of Flowers

John Bellany C.B.E., R.A., H.R.S.A., L.L.D.(Lon)(British, 1942-2013)Bouquet in a Floral Jug (unframed)

John Bratby R.A.(British, 1928-1992)Two Sunflowers

Philip Sutton R.A.(British, born 1928)Still Life

Anne Estelle Rice(American/British, 1887-1959)White Cyclamen

Joan Gillchrest(British, 1918-2008)Hyacinths Towards Zennor

Mary Fedden R.A.(British, 1915-2012)Still Life with Eggcup

Mary Fedden R.A.(British, 1915-2012)Still Life with Drawers

Bryan Pearce(British, 1929-2007)Fruit Bowl

Peter Collis R.H.A.(Irish, 1929-2012)Still Life with Blue Jug

Geoffrey Key(British, born 1941)Chinese Vases II

Tessa Newcomb(British, born 1955)The Evening after the Visit

Mary Newcomb(British, 1922-2008)Orange Winged Butterfly

Mary Newcomb(British, 1922-2008)Butterfly

Mary Newcomb(British, 1922-2008)Yellow Butterfly

Tessa Newcomb(British, born 1955)Our Field

Mary Newcomb(British, 1922-2008)Fishing Boat

Alan Lowndes(British, 1921-1978)Cap d'Antibes

Mary Fedden R.A.(British, 1915-2012)Oasis Pella, Jordan

Mary Fedden R.A.(British, 1915-2012)Gone Fishing

Alan Furneaux(British, born 1953)The Bay of St Michael's Mount