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Design for painted harpsichord lid (recto)

Maker

Attributed to
(artist)
1866-1934

Title

Design for painted harpsichord lid (recto)

Date of Production

1918

Medium

graphite and oil paint (recto), oil paint squared in graphite (verso) on board

Dimensions

Height: 25.2 cm
Width: 36.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1958.PD.101

Mode of Acquisition

Pamela Diamand, gift, 1958

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords





Label Text

This is the abstract design for the top of the lid of a spinet, or small harpsicord. The series of graphite lines parallel with the lower left edge represent the location of the keyboard. The design, which makes use of the irregular shape of the lid as the basic element of its angular decoration, was inspired by the Cubist collages of Picasso and Braque, whom Fry knew and admired. When painting the spinet, Fry closely followed this preliminary design.

Provenance

Roger Fry (1866-1934); by descent to his daughter Pamela Diamand; Pamela Diamand Gift 1958

Exhibition History

Modern Couples, Centre Pompidou-Metz, France, 26/04/2018-20/08/2018; Barbican Art Gallery, London, 10/10/2018-27/01/2019

Special Display - Bloomsbury Art & Design, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/02/2017-20/09/2017

The Omega Workshops 1913 to 1919, Crafts Council Gallery, London, 18/01/1984-18/03/1984

Literature

The Omega Workshops 1913 to 1919, Crafts Council Gallery, London, 1984
cat. no. D6

Reed, Christopher, Bloomsbury Rooms, New Haven and London 2004
p. 16 (recto), p. 155 (verso)
fig. 80 (recto), fig. 113 (verso)

Beyond Bloomsbury - Designs of the Omega Workshops 1913-19, Courtauld Gallery, London, 2009
Appendix, no. 44
ill. on p. 174 (recto and verso)

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Verso: lower right, blue ink: “HHF. 263”.

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