Biography
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Presentation: Framed
signed and dated
oil on canvas
46 x 90 ins. (117 x 228.5 cm)
Provenance: The British School at Rome, 1989
Exhibited: The Last Romantics, Barbican, 1989 (462)
Literature: Studio 84, 1922, p. 828; British and Italian Art, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 1996, cat. 14
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
original drawing for the line etching
Signed, pencil on paper, lightly squared, 27 x 21 ins. (68.5 x 53.3 cms.)
L'Allegro was Gill's major Rome work and the culmination of his three-year scholarship. This study is for the dancing nude in the centre of the composition (see below).
The painting was inspired by Milton's 'Sonnet L'Allegro':
But come, thou Goddess fair and free,
In Heaven yclep'd Euphrosyne...
Come, and trip it, as you go,
On the light fantastick toe;
The Tate Gallery holds another of Gill's studies for L'Allegro, a seated female nude (accession no. NO3659).
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Presentation: Framed
Pencil, 10 X 10 ins. (25.4 X 26.6 cms.)
Provenance: Winifred Knights; thence by descent
Winifred Knights was one of the Slade's most striking beauties. Fellow Slade-trained artists Mason, Gill and Monnington all fell under her spell.
Gill's drawing can be dated to between December 1920 and May 1921, the period during which he painted her portrait in his celebrated Rome masterpiece, Allegory.
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
Signed and inscribed, Colin Gill, Arras/FRANCE del. 1918 and inscribed on the reverse: 'This oil-colour painting was made by Colin U. Gill and presented to me by him. It represents the view from his billet in Arras and was painted by him during his visit to the Battlefields in 1918. A. N. Lee'
Oil on canvas board, 16 X 11E ins. (40.6 X 29.8 cms.)
Provenance: given by the artist to A. N. Lee; thence by descent.
'My name is Lieutenant Colin Gill of the Royal Engineers - my age 26; before the war I was a painter and studied at the Slade School of Art, London University. In 1913, I was awarded the Rome Scholarship in painting .. I joined the army in 1914, went to France in 1915 and have been in the line ever since.. I have had nearly three years first-hand experience of this line and feel capable of recording my impressions in pictures which would be of assistance to the work of the Ministry of Information.' (Letter to the Ministry of Information, 22 May 1918)
By 25th June Gill had been given a six-month appointment as an Official War Artist, and had received a letter from the ministry reminding him that every work executed 'becomes the property of the Nation.' For this reason war paintings by Gill, outside the sixteen in the collection of the Imperial War Museum, are scarce.
Gill arrived in France on 8th October and returned to England on 14th December 1918. During this period he wrote regularly to Mr Yockney of the Ministry of Information to report his progress:
'9.10.18. Arras. Arrived here safely yesterday. This will be my headquarters to which I shall return every two or three days. Haven't seen Sims yet. Everyone here seems uncertain as to whether the War is over or not.'
'[No date, received 19.11.18]. I was in Mons four hours after our infantry had entered and at the close of hostilities - there was a remarkable and historic scene there .Weather is superb - but freezing hard, which with the short hours of daylight makes work somewhat difficult. Still, I am getting used now to being cold and frost-bitten! Plenty of material I want round here, but shall have to go back to strapped Arras district for certain subjects.'
'18.11.18. I shall be returning to Arras district tomorrow in search of ruins etc which are more varied and conspicuous in that area.' (Copyright: Imperial War Museum Archives).
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
Signed and dated
red chalk with whilte highlights on buff paper
Oval
The subject of this drawing was Sue Lethbridge, daughter of Mabel Lethbridge, a First World War heroine, whose portrait Gill had been commissioned to paint for the Imperial War Museum. Mabel Lethbridge and Gill became lovers for a time, Gill occupying the first floor of a magnificent studio in Tite Street, whilst Mabel, Sue and their butler occupied the ground floor. Gill became Sue’s guardian. This drawing was acquired directly from Sue Murray (née Lethbridge), who was eleven years old when she posed for Gills painting The Kerry Flute Player.
We are grateful to Sue Murray for assistance.
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
The subject of this drawing was Sue Lethbridge, daughter of Mabel Lethbridge, a First World War heroine, whose portrait Gill had been commissioned to paint for the Imperial War Museum. Mabel Lethbridge and Gill became lovers for a time, Gill occupying the first floor of a magnificent studio in Tite Street, whilst Mabel, Sue and their butler occupied the ground floor. Gill became Sue’s guardian. This drawing was acquired directly from Sue Murray (née Lethbridge), who was eleven years old when she posed for Gills painting The Kerry Flute Player.
The Kerry Flute Player was exhibited in the 1934 Pittsburgh International, and thereafter acquired for the Carnegie Institute Permanent Collection (subsequently de-accessioned in 1979). According to the Carnegie Magazine, January 1935, the painting enjoyed ‘the unique distinction of being praised unanimously by the critics and admired enthusiastically by the public’ (vol. 8, no. 8, p. 247). The article continues:‘The picture was painted by the artist on a trip to the west of Ireland last summer. The model who posed for the flute player is an itinerant musician … his eyes closed as if in ecstasy at the sound of his own music while the girl, with eyes wide open, is completely absorbed in the magic notes of the flute. Both are indifferent to the approaching storm and the buffeting wind … There is a classic simplicity and grace in the long lines of the girl’s dress, shawl, folded hands, and slender feet.’
We are grateful to Sue Murray for assistance.
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
Signed, inscribed with title and dated on recto; inscribed on verso: ‘Drawings and studies for The Defeat of the Danes by Colin Gill. Now Open Admission Free’; pen and ink over pencil, on verso
Pencil with crayon highlights, 23 1/4 × 16 3/4 in. (59 × 42.5 cm.)
Provenance: Sue Murray (née Lethbridge)
The Kerry Flute Player was exhibited in the 1934 Pittsburgh International, and thereafter acquired for the Carnegie Institute Permanent Collection (subsequently de-accessioned in 1979). According to the Carnegie Magazine, January 1935, the painting enjoyed ‘the unique distinction of being praised unanimously by the critics and admired enthusiastically by the public’ (vol. 8, no. 8, p. 247). The article continues:‘The picture was painted by the artist on a trip to the west of Ireland last summer. The model who posed for the flute player is an itinerant musician … his eyes closed as if in ecstasy at the sound of his own music while the girl, with eyes wide open, is completely absorbed in the magic notes of the flute. Both are indifferent to the approaching storm and the buffeting wind … There is a classic simplicity and grace in the long lines of the girl’s dress, shawl, folded hands, and slender feet.’
The model for this drawing was Sue Lethbridge, daughter of Mabel Lethbridge, a First World War heroine, whose portrait Gill had been commissioned to paint for the Imperial War Museum. Mabel Lethbridge and Gill became lovers for a time, Gill occupying the first floor of a magnificent studio in Tite Street, whilst Mabel, Sue and their butler occupied the ground floor. Gill became Sue’s guardian. This drawing was acquired directly from Sue Murray (née Lethbridge), who was eleven years old when she posed for The Kerry Flute Player.
The drawing was made on the reverse of an original poster design by Gill advertising an exhibition of his studies for The Defeat of the Danes, the mural that Gill had completed for St Stephen’s Hall, Palace of Westminster, in 1927.
We are grateful to Sue Murray for assistance.
Biography
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Presentation: Framed
Signed and dated
Pencil with white chalk highlights
This drawing which dates to the year Colin Gill won the first Scholarship in Painting to the British School at Rome is likely to be a self-portrait
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