Monday, January 27, 2014

Hazy Morning


Hazy Morning - Golfo Aranci - Sardinia
by Edward Seago (1910-74)
Oil on board, 30.5 x 39.5 cm
Originally a gift from the artist to Oliver Rosenorn-Lanng, who established the Costa Smeralda resort for HH The Aga Khan.

From the Bonhams catalogue:

In 1968 Seago bought Sa Conca, an apartment at Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda in the north of Sardinia. The attraction not only lay in the sunning location, but in the villa's terrace view of the harbour, providing a continuing source of subjects and inspiration. The year he moved there was an important one with his first exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery, but Porto Cervo was a place where the artist could relax and his mood is reflected in the paintings produced there, where an easy confidence comes to the fore.

Seago tended to concentrate on scenery when he was in Sardinia, the present lot being a good example of these unpopulated landscapes and seascapes where capturing the subtle Mediterranean light is his primary objective. Golfo Aranci is just down the coast from Porto Cervo and would have been easily reachable by the boat Seago owned. He was known to use photographs as part of the process of painting these landscapes; these worked as a compositional aid, but the paintings are defined by their subtle palette. As James W Ried writes in "Edward Seago The Landscapre Art" (Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd, London 1991), 'These vignettes of sea, sky, rocks and sand become comtemplative solilioquies, devoid of those fishermen, beach-goers and children which animated his earlier beach scenes of England, Spain and Portugal. These are moments for meditation, and for eulogies to nature's majesty'.

Sold at Lindsay Burns Auctioneers Antique Sale 24 April 2018.

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