Prunella Clough 1919-1999
Lorry with Ladder, 1953, circa
oil on canvas
88 x 66.7 cm
34 5/8 x 26 1/4 in
34 5/8 x 26 1/4 in
signed
Having painted the fishermen of Lowestoft for some years and made use of their netting and tackle as pictorial motifs, Clough turned her attention inland during the 1950s, towards the...
Having painted the fishermen of Lowestoft for some years and made use of their netting and tackle as pictorial motifs, Clough turned her attention inland during the 1950s, towards the builders and labourers, lorry drivers and construction workers of the inner city. She called these her 'Lorry-landscapes'. This new theme reflected and celebrated the optimistic and regenerative forces operating across post-war Britain at the time. It also provided her with a readymade contemporary subject and one that, hitherto, had been largely unexplored – least of all by a female painter. Lorries and ladders became her new emblematic objects, readily located within the industrial landscape. With these she attempted to contextualise the figure within a modern urban setting, without having to resort to accepted pictorial narratives.
Clough's interest in workmen, who are habitually represented as generic types, rather than individuals, lies in their direct relationship to their workplace and the accoutrements and gear of their trade. Lorry with Ladder circa 1953 is closely related to several other oil paintings which Clough made around this time (see Lorry Driver in Cab, circa 1950-3; Sleeping Lorry Driver, 1951; Lorry with Ladder I, circa 1952 and Lorry Driver, 1952).
Framed by his vehicle's window, the cloth-capped lorry driver is formally conceived as part of his place of work. Bent metal bars, tools tied with rope, planks of wood and distant urban buildings are piled perilously high above his cab. While the same formal, semi-abstracted language is used to unite both the figure and the objects he's transporting, Clough is, perhaps, also commenting on the de-personalising nature of the industrial world and the encroaching urban environment.
The restricted palette of creams, muted ochres and neutral tones helps unify the disparate compositional elements while simultaneously evoking the atmospheric grime of the loading yards. The chromatic highlight, provided by the driver's orange jacket, is typical of Clough's use of colour. Its richness gently emphasises the lorry driver's presence while fixing him firmly within the context of his working environment.
The present work boasts illustrious institutional provenance, having previously belonged to The Toledo Museum of Art. A prime and large example from this important period of Clough's output, of a quality rarely seen on the market, the work has been selected by curators at both the Tate and Pallant House for surveys of Clough's career.
Clough's interest in workmen, who are habitually represented as generic types, rather than individuals, lies in their direct relationship to their workplace and the accoutrements and gear of their trade. Lorry with Ladder circa 1953 is closely related to several other oil paintings which Clough made around this time (see Lorry Driver in Cab, circa 1950-3; Sleeping Lorry Driver, 1951; Lorry with Ladder I, circa 1952 and Lorry Driver, 1952).
Framed by his vehicle's window, the cloth-capped lorry driver is formally conceived as part of his place of work. Bent metal bars, tools tied with rope, planks of wood and distant urban buildings are piled perilously high above his cab. While the same formal, semi-abstracted language is used to unite both the figure and the objects he's transporting, Clough is, perhaps, also commenting on the de-personalising nature of the industrial world and the encroaching urban environment.
The restricted palette of creams, muted ochres and neutral tones helps unify the disparate compositional elements while simultaneously evoking the atmospheric grime of the loading yards. The chromatic highlight, provided by the driver's orange jacket, is typical of Clough's use of colour. Its richness gently emphasises the lorry driver's presence while fixing him firmly within the context of his working environment.
The present work boasts illustrious institutional provenance, having previously belonged to The Toledo Museum of Art. A prime and large example from this important period of Clough's output, of a quality rarely seen on the market, the work has been selected by curators at both the Tate and Pallant House for surveys of Clough's career.
Provenance
With The Redfern Gallery, London, where acquired byThe Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, U.S.A
Their sale; Sotheby's, London, 4 June 2003, lot 35, where acquired by the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.
Exhibitions
London, Olympia Fine Art Fair, Prunella Clough, 1919-1999: Seeing the World Sideways, 2-7 March 2004, cat.no.PC-160London, Tate Britain, Prunella Clough, 24 March-27 August 2007; this exhibition travelled to Norwich, Norwich Castle Museum, 6 October 2007-6 January 2008, Kendal, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, 18 January-5 April 2008, cat.no.11
Chichester, Pallant House Gallery, Prunella Clough: A Centenary, 16 January-9 February 2020
Literature
Otto Wittman, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1976, p.389 (ill.b&w)Ben Tufnell (ed.), Prunella Clough, Tate Publishing, London, 2007, p.35, cat.no.11 (col.ill.)
Frances Spalding, Prunella Clough: Regions Unmapped, Lund Humphries, Farnham, 2012, pp.102-103, pl.61 (col.ill., as Lorry with Ladder I and circa 1952)
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