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