‘Past Event’ by Prunella Clough, £5500 at Sworders.
The 18 lots in a range of different media formed part of the estate collection of antique dealer Christopher Bangs (1951-2022).
Clough, a titan of Modern Brutish art, and Bangs, a specialist in medieval and later metalware, had first met when in 1972 when he was young gallery manager at the New Art Centre in Sloane Street and she was the subject of a forthcoming solo exhibition. They formed not just a good working relationship, but also a deep friendship. For more than two decades, Bangs was a frequent visitor to Clough’s homes in Fulham, first in Moore Park Road and then at Salisbury House in Sherbrooke Road.
Together they purchased a derelict former drayhorse stable block next door that in 1996 was transformed into The Triangle, Bangs’ private gallery for his holdings of early domestic bronze, brass and pewter.
Clough, who maintained a lively interest in his work, ultimately bequeathed the house and studio to Bangs when she died.
‘Mining Landscape’ by Prunella Clough, £6200 at Sworders.
The lots offered on April 9 were relatively low-key works from the Clough oeuvre but were personal gifts between close friends. They covered Clough’s career from the early 1950s until late 1980s.
Among the highlights was the large scale 1976 oil and brick dust on canvas that was painted by Clough after she experienced a gust of wind blowing through a disused warehouse in the London Docklands. A work exhibited by the London Arts Council, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the Serpentine Gallery, London, it had expectations of £3000-5000 and took £5500.
Clough’s 1961 oil on board Mining Landscape was the top lot at £6200 while a 1950 collage of oil paint and balsa wood on softboard titled took £4800.
