17th Oct, 2023 10:00
Modern and Contemporary Art
212
▲ Joanna Carrington aka Reginald Pepper (1931-2003)
Joanna Carrington aka Reginald Pepper (1931-2003)
The dinner party
signed with initials 'RP' l.l., oil on board
38 x 46cm
Joanna had an excellent start to her creative future; her father was the publisher and designer Noel Carrington, and her aunt the artist Dora Carrington. As a teenager, Cedric Morris was impressed by Joanna's artistic skills when she studied under him at his summer school. She was also tutored by Fernand Léger in Paris and Mervyn Peake and Keith Vaughan at the Central School of Art and Design in London. As her career progressed, the influence of these artists can be seen, including in her cubist still lifes and her landscapes, which express her love for the countryside. Her first solo exhibition was at the Establishment Gallery in 1962 and she had subsequent shows at Crane Kalman, Grosvenor and Thackeray galleries.
In 1966, she married her second husband, the artist and film director Christopher Mason. A few years later, after Mason made a film on the naive artist Alfred Wallis, Carrington adopted the pseudonym Reginald Pepper. Pepper was said to be an 'unemployable forty-year-old' who lived with his overbearing mother in a backstreet of Swindon, filled with kitsch carpets and wallpapers and their two giant cats.
Pepper's paintings are in a primitive style, where perspective is absent. They tend to be fun and uplifting works, with a childlike nature which was seen to be reflective of Reg's lower mental capacity. In 1974, Carrington showed some works to the Portal Gallery in London and presented herself as his agent.
Pepper's true identity was revealed by the Sunday Times in 1981. But this did not adversely affect the public interest in him and, in 1984, Carrington was commissioned to illustrate a children's book 'Pepper and Jam'. If authors could write books under pseudonyms, Carrington felt she should be able to enjoy the freedom of producing two very different styles of art. Reginald Pepper has gained a cult following and collectors of her work will often hang a 'Carrington' and 'Pepper' side by side.
For the last twenty or so years of her life, Joanna Carrington and Christopher Mason lived in France. The vendors of this lot had a holiday home close by and became friends with the couple, being gifted artworks.
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Sold for £1,700
Condition Report
Framed: 43 x 51cm
There are some small areas of retouching and light surface abrasions to the brown borders around the edges, but this does not detract from overall enjoyment of the work. Under UV light there is retouching visible to the bottom of the left edge and some unevenness to the varnish around the edges. Please refer to additional condition images.
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Auction: Modern and Contemporary Art, 17th Oct, 2023
Viewing
London Viewing | Highlights
A selection of lots will be on view 21 September - 4 October at our London Gallery, 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ, as follows:
Monday-Friday, 11am - 5.30pm
Saturday, 1pm - 5pm
Sunday - Closed
For more information, please contact 0203 971 2500 | london@sworder.co.uk
Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 13 October, 10am - 5pm
Sunday 15 October, 10am - 1pm
Monday 16 October, 10am - 5pm
All lots are, however, extensively illustrated and carry detailed condition reports - see 'Condition report' at the foot of each lot description.
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
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