Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (BRITISH 1889-1946), CLOUD STUDY

Lot description

CHRISTOPHER RICHARD WYNNE NEVINSON (BRITISH 1889-1946)CLOUD STUDY Oil on canvas-boardSigned (lower right)30 x 40cm (11¾ x 15½in.)Provenance:Sale, Christie's, London, 9 June 1978, lot 139The present work demonstrates Nevinson's continued fascination with the constantly changing, transient, effects of light and weather on the British landscape. In this he was continuing in the footsteps of the early 19th Century masters, including J. M. W. Turner, John Constable, Thomas Girtin and David Cox for example. He returned to such studies throughout his career and overwhelmingly these are imbued with a sense of immediacy and a contemplative atmosphere, very different from his more usual subjects which are characterised by fractured forms and a hard-edged energy. The landscape has been reduced to a narrow band at the lower edge of the composition, allowing the sky to almost completely fill the canvas. The dark silhouette of trees and land acts both as a compositional anchor and as a contrast to the light and drama of the sky above. The artist's use of broad, fluid brushstrokes and the diagonal movement of the clouds across the picture surface create a dynamism to the work, while the touches of white create a depth and luminosity. As with many of Nevinson's atmospheric studies, the emphasis is not on narrative detail but on mood and sensation. Through subtle tonal variation and confident handling of paint, the artist conveys both the weight and instability of the passing weather, producing a work of quiet immediacy and considerable sensitivity.