David Parfitt 2016

Page 1

The Seasons 20 Strand-on-the-Green

david parfitt


front cover

above

1 Balcony and Brentford  £2,850

2 Bridge and Boatyard, Spring Morning  £9,850

oil on board 33 x 39 cms  13 x 153⁄8 ins

oil on canvas 91 x 122 cms  36 x 48 ins


david parfitt 2016 The Thames has inspired artists for centuries, and Turner often sketched the stretch of tidal river between Mortlake and Kew that David Parfitt calls home. So it is not surprising that Parfitt became part of this artistic continuum. However, his specific relationship to Kew Railway Bridge and the Thames flowing through it is an enduring inspiration, closer to Frank Auerbach’s fascination with Mornington Crescent, because Parfitt also finds endless possibilities in what he sees every day. The railway bridge runs past his studio window at Strand on the Green where his house lies almost beneath it; the bridge is more neighbour than landmark. He says that the first thing he does every morning is to check what the river is doing and how the bridge looks. How the river looks depends on the season. At midsummer the sun sets beyond Brentford; at the winter solstice it sets directly opposite the house. The tide floods to doorways or recedes to expose mudflats. As days lengthen, pub-goers cluster in puddles of sunlight next to flocks of over-fed waterfowl. Geese nest on the nearby island, and the winter air rasps with gulls.

Parfitt first became aware of the abstract beauty of the everyday while growing up in South Wales. His early sketchbooks show pitheads, markets, clotheslined gardens and back alleys bristling with aerials, structures often overlooked or ignored. As he later painted the bridge, over and over again, he sensed an inverse relationship growing between his subject and its complexities. He has experimented with various methods and movements, and by deconstructing masterworks by other artists he found new approaches in his own work. For example, Matisse showed him how forms defined by a void are sometimes more interesting than actual objects, and Parfitt often uses masking or cut outs to resolve his compositions. Robert Browning wrote, “…we’re made so that we love First when we see them painted, things we have passed Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see”: a thought that expresses Parfitt’s creative optimism and conviction to recognise the visible world. But regardless of how beautifully he captures the Thames throughout the year, he never believes he arrives at any one ‘truth’ in his paintings. Instead, it is precisely his focus on a single environment that allows these paintings to express both the fleeting and the cyclical.


3 Spring Blossom and Forget-me-nots  £3,250

4 Grey Spring Island  £1,250

5 April: Palms and People  £1,250

oil on board 46 x 61 cms  181⁄8 x 241⁄8 ins

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 10 ins

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 103⁄8 ins

6 April: Palm and Pub  £1,250

7 Strand Spring, Low Tide  £2,450

8 April Island  £1,250

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 10 ins

oil on canvas 41 x 51 cms  16 x 201⁄8 ins

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 101⁄4 ins

9 Stormy April Evening  £1,250

10 Spring Sky  £1,250

11 Spring, Trees and Clouds  £850

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 10 ins

oil on board 31 x 26 cms  12 x 101⁄4 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%

oil on board  17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins


david parfitt

Exhibition 15th December 2016 – 13th January (noon) 2017 Private View Party – Wednesday 14th December, 6pm–8pm RSVP Charlotte Maxwell – charlotte@messums.com or 020 7437 5545

Messum’s

28 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG  Telephone: +44 (0)20 7437 5545  www.messums.com  info@messums.com


12 Under the Bridge, Spring Morning  £3,250

13 Spring  £3,250

14 Island and Blue Orb  £1,450

oil on board 36 x 58 cms  141⁄8 x 227⁄8 ins

15 Bright Evening Light oil on board  £1,450

35 x 31 cms  133⁄4 x 12 ins

18 Shadows, Midsummer Evening  £850

oil on board 20 x 17 cms  8 x 65⁄8 ins

oil on board 61 x 47 cms  24 x 181⁄2 ins

oil on board 31 x 35 cms  12 x 133⁄4 ins

16 Pale Summer Morning  £850

17 Blue and Green  £2,450

oil on board 10 x 20 cms  41⁄8 x 8 ins

oil on board 41 x 51 cms  161⁄8 x 197⁄8 ins

19 Grey June Morning  £1,850

20 Blue Sun Setting  £1,150

oil on board 20 x 46 cms  8 x 181⁄8 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%

oil on board 22 x 26 cms  85⁄8 x 101⁄4 ins


21 Across the River, Early Spring  £9,850 oil on board 123 x 91 cms  483⁄8 x 357⁄8 ins


22 Sun Setting, Sussex  £1,150

25 Tower Blocks at Twilight  £850

23 Stopped Raining, Summer Evening  £850

oil on board 20 x 27 cms  8 x 105⁄8 ins

oil on board 21 x 15.4 cms  81⁄8 x 61⁄8 ins

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins

26 Trees and Chimneys, Summer  £850

29 Blue Thames, Midsummer Evening  £850

oil on board 20 x 17 cms  8 x 65⁄8 ins

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins

27 Strand, Late Evening Light  £1,250

oil on board 10 x 20 cms  41⁄8 x 8 ins

28 Looming Summer Thunderstorm  £850 oil on board 20 x 17 cms  8 x 65⁄8 ins

24 Summer Clouds  £850

oil on board 25 x 25 cms  10 x 10 ins

30 Summer, Low Tide  £850

oil on board 10 x 20 cms  41⁄8 x 8 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%


31 Under the Bridge, am  £7,500

oil on canvas 85 x 65 cms  331⁄2 x 255⁄8 ins


32 August, Setting Sun  £850

33 Palms and Pub Goers  £1,450

34 Evening Figures  £950

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins

oil on board 31 x 31 cms  12 x 121⁄4 ins

35 Drinking at the Pub, Near Sundown  £850

36 Summer Evening, Sundown  £850

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  63⁄4 x 77⁄8 ins

38 Reading on the Balcony  £2,850

oil on board 36 x 46 cms  141⁄8 x 181⁄8 ins

oil on board 20 x 17 cms  8 x 65⁄8 ins

39 Autumn Thames  £850

oil on board 10 x 20 cms  41⁄8 x 8 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%

oil on board 23 x 21 cms  9 x 81⁄4 ins

37 Vine and Wisteria  £850

oil on board 20 x 17 cms  8 x 65⁄8 ins

40 September Thames; Bridge and Shadow  £4,850

oil on board 65 x 85 cms  255⁄8 x 331⁄2 ins


41 Bridges and Tower Blocks  £6,850

oil on board 94 x 76 cms  37 x 297⁄8 ins


42 Piers and Shadow  £850

43 February Evening  £850

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins

oil on board 17 x 20 cms  65⁄8 x 8 ins

45 Winter Sunset  £750

47 Sunset, Kew Bridge  £4,250

oil on board 61 x 50 cms  237⁄8 x 195⁄8 ins

oil on board 16 x 10 cms  61⁄8 x 41⁄8 ins

44 View from Sara’s Room  £1,250

oil on board 27 x 23 cms  10 3⁄4 x 9 ins

46 Tide over Towpath  £750

oil on board 15 x 11 cms  61⁄8 x 43⁄8 ins

48 February, Fading Light  £1,450

49 February £1,450 Riverbank

oil on board 35 x 31 cms  133⁄4 x 12 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%

oil on board 35 x 31 cms  133⁄4 x 12 ins


50 Pine, Piers, Laburnum and Incoming Tide  £850

oil on board 16 x 20 cms  61⁄4 x 8 ins

51 Blue River and Seagulls, am  £1,450

oil on board  24 x 41 cms  93⁄8 x 161⁄8 ins

52 Reflected Clouds, am  £2,450

53 Across the River, February, Dusk  £9,850

oil on canvas  122 x 91 cms  48 x 357⁄8 ins

oil on canvas  41 x 51 cms  16 x 201⁄8 ins

54 Bridge, Boatyard and Brewery, Winter Morning  £9,850

oil on canvas  89 x 122 cms  35 x 48 ins

All prices stated will be subject to VAT at 20%


55 Sun and Steel £6,850

oil on canvas 76 x 61 cms 297⁄8 x 237⁄8 ins


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