SIR JOHN LAVERY – THE SUMMIT OF THE JUNGFRAU UPDATE: THIS MADE £212,500 AT HAMMER
A powerful and masterly landscape of Switzerland: The Summit of the Jungfrau, 1912 by the celebrated painter Sir John Lavery (1856 – 1941) will come under the hammer at Sotheby’s Irish sale in London on September 27.
The painting’s lyrical curves lead the eye up to the pinnacle whilst maintaining a sense of composure and innate design which hints at the influence of Japanese art. The British love of the Alps dates back to the early 19th century, to Turner, Byron, Shelley and Ruskin; it was actually on the recommendation of Winston Churchill’s niece, Lady Gwendoline, that Lavery travelled to the Alpine village of Wengen for a two-month stay. The highlight of the visit was a journey up to Jungfraujoch station, an enormous engineering feat that had fortuitously opened in August 1912 Lavery was able to make his ascent with a full painting kit, creating a temporary studio and setting in order to make a swift sketch of the visiting party.
The painting, which is estiamted at £150,000-250,000, is from a Hampstead Collection assembled and enjoyed over many years in a beautiful house in this leafy corner of London. The collection will be offered across nine auctions in London and Hong Kong between September and December.
(See post on antiquesandartireland.com for August 17, 2017)
