Ceri Richards 1903-1971

The Rape of the Sabines was a theme suffused with a wartime preoccupation with death and rebirth which occupied Richards in 1947-8. Matisse was a primary source of inspiration for the Sabines series and Richards refers specifically to 'La Danse' for the composition, forms and use of colour.

Provenance

Artist Estate

Literature

Mel Gooding Ceri Richards - Cameron & Hollis 2002 p.87

Exhibitions

University of East Anglia Library, Ceri Richards - Poetry into Art: Paintings, Graphic Works & Books, Norwich, 1982

National Library of Wales, Aberstwyth, 1982

National Museum & Gallery of Wales, Ceri Ricahrds - Themes & Variations, Cardiff, 2002

"I chose that particular tinplate works because I was a bit familiar with it - father worked there, and it was one of the oldest in the country. I think what I was much aware of was the gloom ... when you went in there from the outside you couldn't see very much, and they worked in a perpetual gloom ... and this is what I got as well - the heat. It was very, very hot." Ceri Richards

Provenance

Artist's Estate

"I always remember the impression of her coming down the stairs with this terrific floral extension of herself: this enormous hat of feathers. The woman costermoger in her costume became a sort of flower symbol... The proliferation of her hat and costume had a kind of sensuality. I mean, I soon became aware that this was not the woman in a costume but a costume worn by a person; who wasn't a person really, but had become like a marvellous bouquet of flowers..." Ceri Richards

Provenance

Artist's Estate

"I always remember the impression of her coming down the stairs with this terrific floral extension of herself: this enormous hat of feathers. The woman costermoger in her costume became a sort of flower symbol... The proliferation of her hat and costume had a kind of sensuality. I mean, I soon became aware that this was not the woman in a costume but a costume worn by a person; who wasn't a person really, but had become like a marvellous bouquet of flowers..." Ceri Richards

Provenance

Artist's Estate

"I chose that particular tinplate works because I was a bit familiar with it - father worked there, and it was one of the oldest in the country. I think what I was much aware of was the gloom ... when you went in there from the outside you couldn't see very much, and they worked in a perpetual gloom ... and this is what I got as well - the heat. It was very, very hot." Ceri Richards

Provenance

Artist's Estate

Exhibitions

Tate Gallery, London, Ceri Richards, 1981, no. IV

Literature

Mel Gooding, Ceri Richards, Cameron & Hollis, Moffat, 2002, p. 83, illus.

"I chose that particular tinplate works because I was a bit familiar with it - father worked there, and it was one of the oldest in the country. I think what I was much aware of was the gloom ... when you went in there from the outside you couldn't see very much, and they worked in a perpetual gloom ... and this is what I got as well - the heat. It was very, very hot." Ceri Richards

Provenance

Artist's Estate

Exhibitions

Tate Gallery, London, Ceri Richards, 1981, no. 24