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John Armstrong
John Armstrong, Group of Figures, Tempera on Handmade Paper, Signed, 1940s

1945

$25,280.13
£18,500
€22,562.49
CA$35,332.78
A$35,965.49
CHF 20,826.81
MX$474,930.24
NOK 232,792.09
SEK 248,407.63
DKK 169,311.15

About the Item

Signed with initials Tempera on hand-made paper laid on panel 6 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches Group of Figures (1945), encapsulates John Armstrong’s interest in Classical and Renaissance imagery. The artist harks back to art history partly through his material: tempera, the choice medium for most artists in fifteenth-century Italy. Likewise, the apparel of the figures evokes the frescoes of Pompeii, and their dramatic, animated poses, accentuated by Armstrong’s confident use of line, resemble the paintings of Sandro Botticelli. The minimalist landscape in which his figures exist speak of Michelangelo’s rudimentary imaginations of vegetation and rock formations. In effect, this abstract space serves as a stage for the drama of his characters, who could be seen as muses or sibyls. Armstrong expresses his Surrealist sensibilities by constructing the painting with squares of colour, which make the image glitter, highlighting the surreality of the artist’s vision. Painted in the final year of the Second World War, this painting, with its sibylline evocations, could be read as a mystical reappraisal of Anglo-European artistic relations. Likewise, the oracle-like figures may be invoking premonitions and prognostications, predicting the future of a new, post-war Europe.
  • Creator:
    John Armstrong (1856, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1945
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 6.75 in (17.15 cm)Width: 8.75 in (22.23 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    6.75 x 8.75Price: $25,099
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU8815963842

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