Items Similar to Walled City - 20th Century Abstract Oil and Collage on Board, White + Green
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12
John ChristophersonWalled City - 20th Century Abstract Oil and Collage on Board, White + Green1963
1963
$4,986.82
£3,650
€4,251.43
CA$6,869.70
A$7,537.37
CHF 3,970.33
MX$89,665.01
NOK 50,859.40
SEK 46,441.58
DKK 31,762.26
About the Item
John Christopherson 1921-1996
Walled City, 1963
oil and collage on board
47.6 x 40 cm
18 3/4 x 15 3/4 in
signed and numbered verso; signed again, titled, dated and inscribed on the Artist's label attached verso
John Christopherson was a painter of small dreamlike townscapes and abstract paintings that combine an almost naïve intensity with great sophistication.
Born in Blackheath, London in 1921, Christopherson began his working life at Shell-Mex House in 1938, the period when Jack Beddington, the manager of the publicity department was pioneering the use of modern art in advertising. After a wartime illness, Christopherson worked at County Hall in London, choosing for his office wall a print of Paul Nash's Wood on the Downs and Nash's primeval landscapes and magical moons were later to have a lasting influence on Christopherson's own paintings.
In 1950, while working as a civil servant at the Geological Museum in South Kensington, he became interested in the French Art Brut movement and corresponded with Jean Dubuffet, who offered encouragement when Christopherson himself began to paint.
John Christopherson felt that his life in art did not really begin until 1950, when he met Jacob Epstein and started to visit West End galleries - he said that it was a revelation that 'such a magical world co-existed on the same level and at the same time as the boring, prosaic one of rationing, coupons and the civil service', and he determined to enter it. He said that his annus mirabilis was 1951, the year of the Festival of Britain. This was the time when his tastes and interests were moulded and when he found his vocation. In 1959, he resigned from his appointment in the civil service at the Geological Museum and became a full-time painter.
From boyhood he was fascinated by the idea of antiquity. He was always interested in ancient stones, pavements, mosaics, archaeological sites, walls and buildings which had gradually changed and been eroded by time. Walls with faded posters and graffiti particularly attracted him - he treasured and identified himself with what he described as the 'forlorn poetry of the unregarded'.
Christopherson's pictures linger in the memory. His image world is a distillation of cultural debris sifted with poetic intensity. His pictures are a microcosm of his tastes and obsessions. Each small painting is haunted by a sense of déjà vu, the ordinary becomes extraordinary. The subtle depths of layers of glazes are incised with the mysterious markings of a private language. Terence Mullaly once described how his works 'convey the impression of a world frozen in a dream'. George Melly, writing about pictures he purchased for the Arts Council Collection in 1979, wrote that Christopherson's 'point of departure is some discreet corner of the urban townscape. He imposes a melancholy geometry, transforming it into a city deserted by its inhabitants who have left behind them, their only monument, some reticent graffiti. His colour is as private as his imagery. His pictures whisper. They are worth listening to.'
In 1958, Christopherson married his wife Anne, also a painter. After living in Blackheath until 1962, they moved to Hampstead Village before moving back to his native Blackheath in 1967. Both locations provided the subjects for many of his mature paintings.
He was of Cornish ancestry and regularly visited St Ives, home to many of the British artists of the 1950s whom he admired. However, his main influences were really from the Continent: artists such as Tàpies, Brancusi, Giacometti, Fautrier, Burri, de Staël, Poliakoff, Richier, Wols, Balthus and Veiera da Silva. In England, he particularly admired the works of Ben Nicholson, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Scott and his old friend Alan Reynolds. He once said, 'I like a painting that hangs on a wall, or a sculpture that stands on a stand... nothing much that has happened since the 1950s really interests me.' The post-war years are usually thought of as a time of austerity, but for Christopherson 'the bleak world of Giacometti and William Scott was good enough for me'.
- Creator:
- Creation Year:1963
- Dimensions:Height: 18.75 in (47.6 cm)Width: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Medium:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Kingsclere, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2718217198702
About the Seller
No Reviews Yet
Vetted Professional Seller
Every seller passes strict standards for authenticity and reliability
Established in 2010
1stDibs seller since 2024
44 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 7 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Kingsclere, United Kingdom
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View AllUntitled (Green), Oil on Paper Painting by John Hubbard, 1962
By John Hubbard
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Untitled (Green), Oil on Paper Painting by John Hubbard 1931-2017, 1962
Additional information:
Medium: Oil on paper
21 x 21 cm
8 1/4 x 8 1/4 in
Signed and dated '22-VII-62'; furthe...
Category
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Paper
Beneath the Tree, 2024 - Abstract Oil Painting on Linen on Board, Green + White
By Daisy Cook
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Daisy Cook is a British painter of landscape and still life.
Cook creates abstracted paintings that take landscape as the subject without being explicitly topographical or descrip...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Linen, Oil, Board
E6, Small Abstract Mixed Media on Board Painting, 2021
By Peter Joyce
Located in Kingsclere, GB
E6, Mixed Media on Board Painting by Peter Joyce, 2021
Additional information:
Medium: on Board
12 x 15 cm
4 3/4 x 5 7/8 in
Signed and dated; further signed, dated and titled verso...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Board, Mixed Media
Mosaic, Oil on Board Painting by Laurence Scarfe, 1960
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Mosaic, Oil on Board Painting by Laurence Scarfe, 1960
Additional information:
Medium: Oil on board
50.8 x 111.8 cm
20 x 44 in
Signed with initials; signed again, dated and titled v...
Category
20th Century Abstract Paintings
Materials
Board
Price Upon Request
The Stacks, 2024 - Abstracted Landscape Acrylic Painting with Collage on Paper
By Peter Joyce
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Peter Joyce was born in Poole, Dorset, and was educated at Bournemouth & Poole College of Art & Design from 1980. He went on to study at Stourbridge College of Technology & Art and q...
Category
2010s Abstract Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Untitled Abstract, Oil on Board Painting by John Plumb, 1956/57
By John Plumb
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Untitled Abstract, Oil on Board Painting by John Plumb, 1956/57
Additional information:
Medium: Oil on board
81.3 x 121.9 cm
32 x 48 in
Category
20th Century Landscape Paintings
Materials
Board
You May Also Like
Crossing Lines #2, abstract mixed media painting on aluminum panel, green
By Francie Hester
Located in New York, NY
Crossing Lines
The exhibition also includes Crossing Lines, a series created in collaboration with interdisciplinary artist Lisa Hill. This series draws on the literal and figurati...
Category
2010s Contemporary Abstract Paintings
Materials
Metal, Wire
$1,280 Sale Price
20% Off
Far and Away - abstract green white beige painting and collage on panel
By Deborah T. Colter
Located in New York, NY
Deborah T Colter is a contemporary abstract painter who lives on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard. Deborah graduated from the Rhode Island School of D...
Category
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Archival Paper
Pantomime. XXIII Framed abstract green painting, Painting, Acrylic on Paper
By Sia Aryai
Located in Yardley, PA
This lively original abstract painting on hand-cut parchment brings a pop of life to any room. The painting is 12X16â€
Category
2010s Surrealist Paintings
Materials
Acrylic
Green Composition - Oil Painting by Leo Guida - 1970s
By Leo Guida
Located in Roma, IT
Green Composition is a contemporary artwork realized by Leo Guida in 1970s
Mixed colored oil painting on canvas.
Leo Guida (1992 - 2017). S ensitive to current issues, artistic mo...
Category
1970s Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Abstract Composition in Green
Located in Astoria, NY
Elfi Schuselka (Austrian, b. 1940), Abstract Composition in Green, Oil on Canvas, mounted on board, stamped "Studio Elfi Schuselka" to verso, unframed. 21.75" H x 23.75" W. Provenanc...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
Materials
Oil
Green Energy, Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Yardley, PA
Acrylic on canvas, Texture,80x80x2cm Ships Ready to hang Medium: High Quality Acrylic colors, High gloss Varnish, This painting is made on high quality gallery wrapped canvas with...
Category
2010s Abstract Mixed Media
Materials
Mixed Media
