Beschreibung:

λ AUGUSTUS JOHN (BRITISH 1878-1961) THE LITTLE RAILWAY, MARTIGUES Oil on canvas Signed (lower left) 54 x 73cm (21¼ x 28½ in.) Painted in 1928. Provenance: Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., London (stock no. C3526) Adams Gallery, London Sale, Christie's, London, 8 June 1990, lot 247 Sale, Christie's, London, 9 June 2000, lot 90 Exhibited: London, Arthur Tooth & Sons Ltd., Augustus John April-May 1929, no. 7 or 23 Possibly, London, Agnew's, Contemporary British Artists, November-December 1930, no. 18 London, Royal Academy of Arts, Diploma Gallery, Exhibition of works by Augustus John O.M., R.A., 1954, no. 383 (lent by Adams Gallery) Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery, Augustus John O.M., R.A., 1956, no. 38 (lent by Cyril Adams) Literature: M. Chamot, D. Farr and M. Butlin, Tate Gallery Catalogues: The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, vol. I, London, 1964, p. 327 'Leaving Arles for Marseilles, the railway skirts the northern shores of the Etang de Berre. Looking south from the train I caught a glimpse in the distance of spires and buildings which seemed to belong to a town sitting in the water. With a feeling that I was going to find what I was seeking, an anchorage at last, I returned from Marseilles, and, changing at Pas des Lanciers, took the little railway which leads to Martigues'. Chiaroscuro: Fragments of Autobiography, p.106 The year was 1910. Augustus bought the Villa Ste Anne at Martigues and over the years painted a series of landscape paintings on small wooden panels which are today among his most sought after works. 'The Little Railway' and another smaller version held by Tate Britain, was painted in 1928, the year the family left Martigues. We are grateful to Rebecca John for her kind assistance in cataloguing this lot.