Lot 1827
‡JOHN CECIL STEPHENSON (1889-1965)
BAGATELLE, c.1960
Oil on canvas board
59.5 x 44.5cm.
Provenance: The Artist's Estate
* A skilled musician himself throughout his life, Stephenson sought to find visual equivalents for musical forms.
Commenting on the 1960 Drian Gallery Exhibition, which comprised 22 works by Stephenson from the late 1950s, Herbert Read spoke of the 'freshness and vitality' of these later works noting that 'the vicissitudes of the art world are such that it is possible for an artist of great talent to work for a lifetime in obscurity, and only towards the end of his career find the recognition that is due to him'.
Stephenson made his first abstract paintings around 1932. In 1934 he exhibited with the 7 & 5 Society, along with Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and John Piper. Though not today as well known as many of his contemporaries, he was one of the key figures in the development of abstract art in Britain. Indeed Herbert Read noted that Stephenson 'was one of the earliest artists in this country to develop a completely abstract style' and credited him with being the father figure of the 'gentle nest of artists' (Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore) who occupied the Mall Studios in Hampstead. At the beginning of the second War, Stephenson counted Calder and Mondrian amongst his friends and they were frequent visitors to The Mall Studios.
