AN ENGLISH CUBIST

WILLIAM ROBERTS:

Tropical Sea + study

Illustration © The Estate of John David Roberts. Catalogue information based on the catalogue raisonné by David Cleall. For this and full details of the exhibitions cited, see the links below. Any auction prices quoted may not include all fees and taxes, such as VAT and Artist's Resale Right charges.

Tropical Sea – study (aka Bathers), c.1941
Pencil and watercolour, 11.9 cm x 17.3 cm

PROVENANCE (as Bathers II): Bonhams Knightsbridge 12 Sept. 2008; (£3,360) > Goldmark Gallery (2009)
EXHIBITION HISTORY: Redfern Gallery 1942? (as Bathers), Exeter 1971 (as Bathers), Hamet Gallery 1973 (as The Bathers II)

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Tropical Sea, c.1941
Pencil and watercolour, 36.2 cm x 53.3 cm

PROVENANCE: William Roberts (1965) > Christie's 26 Oct. 1994 (£4,000)
EXHIBITION HISTORY: Leicester Galleries 1945, Tate Gallery 1965 and tour, Anthony d'Offay Gallery (1) 1969
Compared with the study, exhibited as Bathers, the right-hand figure has lost her bangle but has gained a darker (Polynesian?) skin colour – perhaps an allusion to Gauguin which is reflected in the new title. The image of the dangling fish was used in a similar way in The Birth of Venus 1954