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7 John Craxton (1922-2009)Seated Figure
Oil on canvas, 33.5 x 15cm (13¼ x 5¾”)
Exhibited: “John Craxton Exhibition”,The Leicester Galleries, May 1954, Cat. no.9, where
purchased by Nancy Wynne-Jones
€7,000 - €10,000
John Craxton studied at the Académie Julian and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
in Paris during 1939. Later, during the war, having been rejected for military service, Crax-
ton shared a studio in London with Lucian Freud and toured the hills of Pembrokeshire
with Graham Sutherland in 1943. His first solo exhibition was held London in 1942 at the
Swiss Cottage Café, and his first major solo show was at the Leicester Galleries in 1944.
His early painting is in the Neo-Romantic manner, and shows the influence of Sutherland
and Samuel Palmer. Craxton was also supported and influenced by the renowned collector
and critic Peter Watson.
The present lot was purchased by Nancy at The Leicester Galleries in May 1954.
Seated
Figure
was painted on one of his visits to Greece in the early 1950’s.The figure, possibly in
a sailors uniform displays an angular quality and a brighter palette contrasts with the mel-
ancholic pose, which characterizes his work of this period.
Craxton travelled extensively in Europe from 1946 to 1966 and moved permanently to
Crete in about 1970. His later work developed a strong Cubist style, coupled with an
interest in Byzantine and folk art. A major retrospective show was held at Whitechapel
Art Gallery in 1967.
Label verso