SOLDTitled on a label to the reverse
Oil on board
14 1/4 x 21 3/8 in. (36 x 54.5 cm.)
Tags: Charles Mahoney oil panel children interiors still lifes Garden Museum RCAGardenMusuem True to Life catalogue
Provenance: The Artist's daughter
In its original Alfred Stiles and Sons, Ltd frame, black and gold D-section frame.
Literature; True to Life, British Realist Painting in the 1920s & 1930s, Patrick Elliot & Sacha Llewellyn, July 2017, ISBN 978 1 911054 05 4, Fig.53, page 51.
Although Mahoney worked independently from mainstream movements, he remained interested in, and open-minded about the contemporary scene. He was especially interested in Surrealism, elements of which are reflected in this painting
The landscape in the background is likely to be a view of the Willow Grove at Great Bardfield, also painted by Ravilious and Bawden.
Eric Ravilious, Willow Grove 1933, watercolour – dated to the same year as Mahoney’s Brick House stay.
Mahoney and Branson had a lengthy stay at Brick House in the spring of 1933 (while Tirzah and Eric were at Morecambe doing the hotel murals) and helped Bawden establish the garden there – Tirzah wrote that it had been transformed by Mahoney and Branson’s efforts during their absence. This visit could possibly have been the origin of the Mahoney painting. The Willow Grove was a favourite nearby space for picnicking.
We are grateful to Andy Friend for assistance.
