In Highclere Park, 1943, signed by John Piper, oil on board, 21½in x 2ft 4in (54.5 x 71cm), offered for £48,000 + ARR by Portland Gallery.
The show runs at the gallery in St James’s, London, from February 22-March 10 and comprises nearly 30 pictures by the popular Modern British artist.
Offered for £48,000, the painting of Highclere Park was completed during Piper’s commission to record bomb-damaged buildings across the country during the war.
As he travelled, he also depicted undamaged sites such as this, with a particular eye for historic architecture in remote settings.
The painting was owned by Howard Bliss in the 1950s, who loaned it to Manchester City Art Gallery. It was later purchased by Edwin Ody Kay, a major collector of Mod Brit art, before selling at Christie’s to a family collection where it has been for more than 50 years.
The exhibition features works from across Piper’s career through the 1980s, most of which feature British building and landscapes.
Landscape, south coast, c.1947, by John Piper, was sold at London Art Fair. The watercolour, gouache, wax resist and ink on paper, 8 x 12in (21 x 30.5cm), was offered for a price in the region of £8500 + ARR from Portland Gallery.
There is also a study for a chapel window, a lithograph from 1936, Nursery Frieze II, and a 1975 screenprint depicting Foliate Heads.
Selling well
Dealer Jamie Anderson said that Piper’s works have been selling well recently, with the sale of one of his watercolours made at London Art Fair.
He added: “There was some debate as to whether it was a view of Dungeness or Portland, although I firmly think it is the latter.”
