ΦJohn Nash RA (1893-1977)

ΦJohn Nash RA (1893-1977)
Hampden House Park
Signed John Nash (lower left)
Oil on canvas, c.1935
86.2 x 68.8cm

Provenance:
Christie's, South Kensington, 20th Century British Art, 3 June 1999, lot 162;
Private Collection

Literature:
Roderick Jones, John Nash: Paintings and Watercolours, unpublished thesis (Sheffield 1979), pp. 107-108, 111, 182, pl.112 (as Hamden House Park)

John Nash has been described as “an English landscape painter of unique importance”. This scene was just a few miles from Nash’s home in Meadle, Buckinghamshire, and he depicted the landscape of his beloved Chilterns repeatedly throughout his career. Despite the traditional subject matter the composition is inventive and unusual, with the central copse splitting the work in two, and the bold reds and greens contrasting with the subtle rendering of the sky. It is a painting that demonstrates that although in many ways Nash was the quintessential English landscape painter, underlying his work was a rare sophistication and brilliance