261
§ JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992)
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Description
JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992)
STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS
signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper
20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in)
The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career. By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’. Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building. The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name. Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.
STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS
signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper
20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in)
The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career. By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’. Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building. The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name. Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.
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JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992)
STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS
signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper
20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in)
The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career. By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’. Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building. The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name. Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.
STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS
signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper
20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in)
The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career. By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’. Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building. The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name. Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.
The Bernard Kelly Collection
Sale Date(s)
Venue Address
The Mall Galleries
The Mall
London
SW1Y 5AS
United Kingdom
COLLECTION OF PURCHASED LOTS
Items will be available for collection from the Mall Galleries on Thursday 16th January from 10am - 3:30pm.
Following this, the works will be divided, with works belonging to Scottish buyers/vendors being stored at Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh EH1 3RR, and works belonging to international or rest-of-UK buyers/vendors moving to Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD.
Please ensure payment has been made prior to collection. This can be done online, by cheque, bank transfer or in person at our office - details will be shown on your invoice. Please note we are unable to take payments over the phone, and we are unable to accept payments in cash.
LONDON LOT COLLECTION
Items will be available for collection from the Mall Galleries on Thursday 16th January from 10am - 3:30pm.
Following this, items will be available to collect from Monday 20th January at 9am from Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD. They will be stored free of charge until Friday 31st January. From Monday 3rd February, clients will be charged by our storage partners.
Insurance 0.25% (all items)
Smalls (paintings and objects) - £2.50 admin fee then £1.00 per day.
Large or furniture pieces - £5.50 admin fee then £2.50 per day.
Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD. Tel 0208 832 2222.
Open 9am – 5pm by prior appointment only.
EDINBURGH LOT COLLECTION
Scottish buyers and vendors items will be available to collect from Thursday 6th February at 9am from Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place Edinburgh EH1 3RR. All collections must be by appointment only (this applies to both carriers and personal collections).
Please book appointments by email at info@lyonandturnbull.com or telephone 0131 557 8844
-----
UK & International - Smaller items and paintings
Mailboxes Etc
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office@avmt.co.uk
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Important Information
BUYER'S PREMIUM
The buyer shall pay the hammer price together with a premium, at the following rate, thereon.
26% up to £20,000
25% from £20,001 to £500,000
20% there after
VAT will be charged on the premium at the rate imposed by law (see our Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue).
ADDITIONAL VAT
† VAT at the standard rate payable on the hammer price
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[Ω] Standard rate of import VAT on the hammer price
Lots affixed with ‡ or [Ω] symbols may be subject to further regulations upon export /import, please see Conditions of Sale for Buyers Section D.2.
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1 – Government issued photo ID (Passport/Driving licence)
2 – Proof of address (utility bill/bank statement).
By registering for the sale, the buyer acknowledges that he or she has read, understood and accepted our Conditions of Sale.
ARTIST’S RESALE ROYALTY (DROIT DE SUITE)
§ indicates works which may be subject to the Droit de Suite or Artist’s Resale Right, which took effect in the United Kingdom on 14th February 2006. We are required to collect a royalty payment for all qualifying works of art. Under new legislation which came into effect on 1st January 2012 this applies to living artists and artists who have died in the last 70 years. This royalty will be charged to the Buyer on the Hammer Price and in addition to the Buyer’s Premium. It will not apply to works where the Hammer Price is less than £1,000. The charge for works of art sold at and above £1,000 and below £50,000 is 4%. For items selling above £50,000, charges are calculated on a sliding scale. All royalty charges are paid to the Design and Artists Copyright Society (‘DACS’) and no handling costs or additional fees are retained by the Auctioneer. Resale royalties are not subject to VAT.
More information on Droit de Suite is available at www.dacs.org.uk
REMOVAL OF PURCHASES
Responsibility for packing, shipping and insurance shall be exclusively that of the purchaser. See Collections & Storage section for more info specific to this particular auction.
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTIONS
All item descriptions, dimensions and estimates are provided for guidance only. It is the buyer’s responsibility to inspect all lots prior to bidding to ensure that the condition is to their satisfaction. Our specialists will be happy to prepare condition reports and additional images. These are for guidance only and all lots are sold ‘as found’, as per our Conditions of Sale.
IMPORT/EXPORT
Prospective buyers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to; rosewood, rhino horn, ivory, coral and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective buyers should familiarise themselves with all relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import lots to another country. It is the buyer’s sole responsibility to obtain any relevant export or import licence. The denial of any licence or any delay in obtaining licences shall neither justify the recession of any sale nor any delay in making full payment for the lot.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
Please be aware that lots marked with the symbol Y contain material which may be subject to CITES regulations when exporting outside Great Britain. For more information visit https://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/imports-exports/cites
COLLECTION OF PURCHASED LOTS
Items will be available for collection from the Mall Galleries on Thursday 16th January from 10am - 3:30pm.
Following this, the works will be divided, with works belonging to Scottish buyers/vendors being stored at Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh EH1 3RR, and works belonging to international or rest-of-UK buyers/vendors moving to Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD.
Please ensure payment has been made prior to collection. This can be done online, by cheque, bank transfer or in person at our office - details will be shown on your invoice. Please note we are unable to take payments over the phone, and we are unable to accept payments in cash.
LONDON LOT COLLECTION
Items will be available for collection from the Mall Galleries on Thursday 16th January from 10am - 3:30pm.
Following this, items will be available to collect from Monday 20th January at 9am from Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD. They will be stored free of charge until Friday 31st January. From Monday 3rd February, clients will be charged by our storage partners.
Insurance 0.25% (all items)
Smalls (paintings and objects) - £2.50 admin fee then £1.00 per day.
Large or furniture pieces - £5.50 admin fee then £2.50 per day.
Stephen Morris Shipping, 15 Ockham Drive, Greenford, UB6 0FD. Tel 0208 832 2222.
Open 9am – 5pm by prior appointment only.
EDINBURGH LOT COLLECTION
Scottish buyers and vendors items will be available to collect from Thursday 6th February at 9am from Lyon & Turnbull, 33 Broughton Place Edinburgh EH1 3RR. All collections must be by appointment only (this applies to both carriers and personal collections).
Please book appointments by email at info@lyonandturnbull.com or telephone 0131 557 8844.
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UK - Conditions Of Sale For Buyers
These Conditions of Sale and the Saleroom Notices as well as specific Catalogue terms, set out the terms on which we offer the Lots listed in this Catalogue for sale. By registering to bid and/or by bidding at auction You agree to these terms, we recommend that You read them carefully before doing so. You will find a list of definitions and a glossary at the end providing explanations for the meanings of the words and expressions used
Special terms may be used in Catalogue descriptions of particular classes of items (Books, Jewellery, Paintings, Guns, Firearms, etc.) in which case the descriptions must be interpreted in accordance with any glossary appearing in the Catalogue. These notices and terms will also form part of our terms and conditions of sales
In these Conditions the words “Us”, “Our”, “We” etc. refers to Lyon & Turnbull Ltd, the singular includes the plural and vice versa as appropriate. “You”, “Your” means the Buyer.
Lyon & Turnbull Ltd. acts as agent for the Seller. On occasion where Lyon & Turnbull Ltd. own a lot in part or full the property will be identified in the catalogue with the symbol (
