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STUDY NO. 2 FOR 'THE ORIGINS OF THE LAND'

© The Artist's Estate

STUDY NO. 2 FOR 'THE ORIGINS OF THE LAND' 1949

Graham Sutherland (1903 – 1980)

Details

Dimension
34.5 X 33 CM
Media
GOUACHE ON PAPER
Accession number
P201

Summary

In 1951 Sutherland was commissioned to produce a vast canvas 14 feet high by 11 feet wide for the ‘Land’ pavilion at the Festival Britain on London’s South Bank. The pavilion was devoted to the theme of the forces of nature, comparing the geological and social history of Britian with its present. Sutherland made a number of studies, of which this work is one, of the themes he planned to incorporate: rock formations found at Tourette-sur-Loup, near Vence in France, a pterodactyl skeleton and a standing form emblem.

Glossary

  • Canvas

    A piece of cloth woven from flax, hemp or cotton fibres. The word has generally come to refer to any piece of firm, loosely woven fabric used to paint on. Its surface is typically prepared for painting by priming with a ground.