EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) Untitled (Vista through blossoming trees), 1912 oil on canvas on board signed and dated lower left: E. Phillips Fox '12
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) VANITY, c.1912 oil on canvas 81.0 x 100.0 cm signed lower right: E. Phillips Fox bears inscription on label verso: Vanity original John Thallon frame, Melbourne PROVENANCE The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, Melbourne Collection of Pictures by the late E. Phillips Fox and E. Carrick Fox, Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 26 September 1952, lot 33 Sir Keith Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria Thence by descent Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria McClelland Collection, McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Langwarrin, gifted from the above in 1979 EXHIBITED Société Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 6 – 31 December 1912, cat. 45 (as ,Le Miroir,) Catalogue of Paintings by E. Phillips-Fox, Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, 17 June – 4 July 1913, cat. 12 Catalogue of Pictures by E. Phillips Fox, The Royal Art Society, Sydney, 13 – 28 October 1913, cat. 12 Catalogue of Pictures by the Late E. Phillips Fox, Upper Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, 29 February – 18 March 1916, cat. 23 Exhibition of Oil Paintings by the Late E. Phillips Fox, Fine Art Society,s Gallery, Melbourne, 22 July – 2 August 1919, cat. 16 LITERATURE Mr. E. Phillips Fox,s Pictures,, The Age, Melbourne, 17 June 1913, p. 8 Mr Phillips Fox,s Paintings,, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 13 October 1913, p. 4 The Work of the Late Mr. E. Phillips Fox,, The Age, Melbourne, 28 February 1916, p. 6 Pictures by the Late E. Phillips Fox,, The Age, Melbourne, 22 July 1919, p. 6 Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, cat. 410, pp. 143, 228 RELATED WORK Reclining Figure, c.1911, oil on canvas, 57.0 x 80.5 cm, in the collection of the University of Queensland Art Museum, Brisbane The end of the story, c.1911-12, oil on canvas, 73.5 x 100.5 cm, in the collection of Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane ESSAY Emanuel Phillips Fox married English born Ethel Carrick in 1905, after meeting her at the artists’ colony of St Ives in Cornwall. Carrick had studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and had clear artistic aspirations, as well as a strong independent streak, while Fox had begun his training at Melbourne’s National Gallery School, alongside Rupert Bunny and Frederick McCubbin, later studying in Paris at the Académie Julian and with Jean-Leon Gérôme. As newlyweds, they moved to Paris, living in a studio apartment at the Cité Fleurie in Montparnasse, which was described by Carrick as ‘quite a cosmopolitan little colony of hard working artists… thirty different nationalities being represented.’1 Together the couple shared a rich, creative life, supporting each other in their artistic endeavours and ambitions and the ensuing years witnessed development and professional recognition for both artists. Upon returning to Australia in 1913 for exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, Fox wrote that the works he had made in the years between his marriage and that time were simply ‘the best I have painted.’2 Colour and the varied effects of light were central to Fox’s art. Indeed, as Lionel Lindsay recalled, ‘He once told me that he no longer saw anything except as a colour-sensation… His gamut of greens is extraordinary fine and varied, and the purity of his colour still holds the sunlight imprisoned in the pigment.’3 While he had been trained in an academic style, Fox always enjoyed the freedom of working outdoors, and the influence of French Impressionism – particularly as articulated by Renoir and Monet, whose work was easily accessible during Fox’s years in Paris – encouraged this, feeding in to what has been described as his natural ‘inclination towards colour, light and optical experience.’4 The example of the French intimiste painters, Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard, was also significant for Fox. Focussing on the figure in intimate domestic settings, their paintings are quiet and contemplative, and this influence can be seen clearly in Vanity, c.1912, which depicts a young woman lounging on a daybed, her book discarded in favour of the silver hand-held mirror which she uses to consider her reflection. The informality and intimacy of the scene – as if the viewer has just walked into the room – is emphasised by the slightly off-kilter composition of the painting and details like the framed pictures on the wall being only partially visible. Fox’s interest in the depiction of interior details and decoration, from the bold stripes of the daybed to the delicate floral-patterned wallpaper, is also clear, but what is most prominent in this work is his focus on the depiction of textiles. Juliette Peers has observed, ‘What Fox’s detailed paintings offer is the materiality of fabrics – the profile of the drape; the details of waistbands; the hanging lace of cuffs; low shoulder lines and seams… parallel rows of tucking, ruching and frilling; satin ribbon appliqués.’5 The deviations in the stripes of the upholstery, pulled tautly over the backrest or as it falls to the ground, highlights the weight and texture of this fabric, just as the form of the gently slumped cushions enables the sheen and smooth touch of their apricot fabric covers to be eloquently described in paint and easily imagined. Without question however, the star of the show is the figure’s dress, a beautiful full-length tea gown with ruffles near the hem and a pink satin ribbon detail around the neckline and sleeve ends. Typical of fashionable woman’s attire of the day, this dress appears in numerous paintings by Fox that were made around this time, from The end of the story, c.1911 – 12 (Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art) to Étude de nu, 1910 (private collection), where it lies crumpled in the background, apparently discarded by the languorous reclining nude who is the subject of the work.6 Bringing together the focus on pattern and texture and the use of harmonious colour which were primary elements of Fox’s approach to picture-making, Vanity is a masterful expression of his distinctive vision of fin de siècle femininity. Highly regarded by the artist, it was brought to Australia for display in his 1913 solo exhibitions here, catching the attention of the Sydney Morning Herald critic who described it as ‘a harmony in pink, blue and gold [and] among the outstanding pictures in the exhibition.’7 The painting was later purchased at auction by Sir Keith Murdoch and in 1979, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch donated it to McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery. 1. Carrick Fox, cited in Goddard, A., ‘An Artistic Marriage’, in Art, Love & Life: Ethel Carrick and E. Phillips Fox, Queensland Art Gallery I Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2011, p. 18 2. E. Phillips Fox, cited in Downey, G., ‘Cosmopolitans and expatriates’, in Art, Love & Life: Ethel Carrick and E. Phillips Fox, ibid., p. 57 3. Lindsay, L., ‘E. Phillips Fox’, Art in Australia, series 1, number 5, 1918, cited in Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1994, p. 1 4. Zubans, ibid., p. 3 5. Peers, J., ,Tall, graceful women sweep by’: Fashion and dress in the work of the Foxes’, in Art, Love & Life: Ethel Carrick and E. Phillips Fox, op. cit., p. 98 6. ibid. 7. ‘Mr. Phillips Fox’s Paintings’, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 13 October 1913, p. 4 KIRSTY GRANT
E. PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 Muriel, Daughter of R.J. Larking, Esq. 1896 oil on canvas signed and dated ‘E. Phillips Fox / Aug 96' lower left 105 x 59 cm frame: John Thallon, Melbourne PROVENANCE E. Phillips Fox, Melbourne Richard J. Larking, Melbourne, acquired from the above Fine Gallery of Paintings, [Mrs R.J. Larking, "Woorigoleen", Toorak, and others], Arthur Tuckett & Son, Melbourne, 11 December 1919, lot 15, ‘Study of a Girl' John Jerome Tuomy, Melbourne, acquired from the above Lucy Tuomy, Melbourne, by descent from the above Marjorie Carr, Melbourne, by descent from the above Private Collection, Melbourne, by descent from the above EXHIBITED E. Phillips Fox: Private View, Melbourne, August 1896, ‘Muriel, daughter of H.J. Larkin, Esq.' Annual Exhibition, Victorian Artists' Society, Melbourne, 23 October 1896, no. 18 'Muriel (Daughter of H.J. F Larkin, Esq.) 12 Australian Artists, Sedon Galleries, Melbourne, March 1958 Panorama of Australian Painting 1818-1968, Studley House, Melbourne, 20-23 April 1968, no. 65, ‘Portrait of Mary' LITERATURE ‘Mr. E. P. Fox's Portraits', Table Talk, Melbourne, 21 August 1896, p. 11 'Art Exhibition. Victorian Artists' Society', The Age, Melbourne, 24 October 1896, p.11 The Age, Melbourne, 4 March 1958 The Herald, Melbourne, 11 March 1958 Ruth Zubans, E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, cat. no. 56, ‘Muriel, Daughter of H.J. Larkin, Esq.', pp. 60, 63 (illustrated)
Two books on Emanuel Phillips Fox (1865-1915) and Ethel Carrick (1872-1952). 1) E Phillips Fox and his family written and published by Len Fox. Signed and inscribed by Len. Leonard Phillips Fox (1905-2004), was the nephew of Emanuel and successful writer. 2) Ethel Carrick Fox: Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist by Susanna de Vries. Published by Pandanus Press, Brisbane, 1997. Hardcover in dustwrapper in very good condition.
Exhibition of Pictures and Catalogues for E. Phillips Fox and Elioth Gruner. 1) Group of 4 Elioth Gruner exhibition catalogues + 1 duplicate. 1920s-1940s. 2) Exhibition of pictures by E. Phillips Fox. Sydney, 1908 + 2 exhibition catalogues from 1916 and 1925. 3) E. Phillips Fox (1865-1915) by Ruth Zubans. All in good condition.
§ EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Blue Gums oil on canvas on board signed lower left: E. Phillips Fox 45 x 36cm PROVENANCE: Christie's, Melbourne, 20 August 1996, lot 155A Private collection, Melbourne Menzies, Melbourne, 25 June 2015, lot 90 Private collection, Melbourne
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Woodland Scene, France oil on board signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX titled on exhibition label verso 25.5 x 33cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent EXHIBITIONS: E. P. Fox Exhibition, Melbourne, May 1925, cat. no. 49 (label verso) LITERATURE: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, p. 237, cat. no. U281
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Woodland Scene, France oil on board signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX titled on exhibition label verso 25.5 x 33cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent EXHIBITIONS: E. P. Fox Exhibition, Melbourne, May 1925, cat. no. 49 (label verso) LITERATURE: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, p. 237, cat. no. U281
PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF PROFESSOR JOHN ROBERTS AM, SYDNEY EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Doges Palace, Venice c1907 oil on wood panel 16.0 x 22.0 cm; 38.0 x 43.0 cm (framed)
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Woodland Scene, France oil on board signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX titled on exhibition label verso 25.5 x 33cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent EXHIBITIONS: E. P. Fox Exhibition, Melbourne, May 1925, cat. no. 49 (label verso) LITERATURE: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, p. 237, cat. no. U281
Emanuel Phillips Fox (Australian 1865-1915) The Farm Shed oil on panel sketch verso 14 x 22 cm, certificate of authenticity from Warren Joel 29/03/2020, In the 1950's Leonard Joel auction several items from the estate of Fox. Part of that auction was a large tin trunk that contained several unframed works by both E. C. and E. P. Fox, the painting listed above was contents of that trunk, there were approximately 100 works of which this is number 67
FOX, Emanuel Phillips (1865-1915) A Beach in France, c.1909-11. Signed 'E Phillips Fox' lower left. Oil on Canvas 35x44.5cm PROVENANCE: Ivon Murdoch (1892-1964) and Alma Murdoch (nee Anderson), 'Wantabadgery East,' N.S.W.; Stuart Murdoch, son of the above (d.1990) and Patricia Murdoch (nee McKay), 'Wantabadgery East,' then 'Springvale,' near Wagga Wagga, N.S.W.; Estate Late Patricia Osborne (Murdoch), Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. LITERATURE: For similar/related works, see 'E. Phillips Fox: his life and art,' Ruth Zubans, 1995, cat no. 316 'Promenade,' and cat no. 317 'On the Sands,' both works dated to c.1909. OTHER NOTES: For a related work see Sotheby's 'Important Australian Art,' Sydney, 13th May 2014 (lot 31)
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) LES ANDELYS–ON–SEINE, c.1909 – 11 oil on canvas board 36.5 x 44.0 cm signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX PROVENANCE Collection of Douglas Dundas and Dorothy Thornhill, Sydney Thence by descent Kerry Dundas, Sydney Robyn Brady Pty Ltd, Sydney Private collection, Sydney, acquired in 1989 Deutscher and Hackett, Melbourne, 27 November 2013, lot 62 Private collection, Melbourne RELATED WORK Chateau Gaillard on the Seine, c.1909 – 1911, oil on canvas, 65.0 x 81.4 cm, in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, illus. in Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, C49, cat. 335, p. 226 Chateau Gaillard, Les Andelys on Seine, c.1909, oil on canvas on hardboard, 64.7 x 80.6 cm, in the collection of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), Incoming Tide, Reefs East Of London Bridge, Portsea, oil on wood panel, titled in pen verso, 25 x 34cm, 40 x 49cm overall
Oil on canvas painting, after the 1909 artwork titled L heure du bain, Bathing Hour by Emanule Phillips Fox, 1865 to 1915, an Australian Impressionist artist. The piece represents a mother and child at the sea beach. It is thought to depict a beach on the French Channel Coast, which was frequented by the upper middle class at the time. Illegibly signed in the lower right. Collectible Fine Art, Nautical Maritime Genre Painting,
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) FIGURES BESIDE THE CREEK, STANWELL PARK, c.1914 oil on canvas on board on composition board 37.0 x 44.0 cm signed lower left: E. Phillips Fox PROVENANCE Private collection Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne Sir Leon and Lady Trout, Brisbane, acquired from the above in July 1971 The Collection of Sir Leon and Lady Trout, Christie's, Brisbane, 6 June 1989, lot 175 (as 'Picnic on the Hawkesbury River') Henry Krongold, Melbourne The Estate of Paul Krongold, Melbourne EXHIBITED Spring Exhibition 1970, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne, 14 September – 5 October 1970, cat. 10 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, as ‘Picnic by the River’) Masterworks from the Collection of Sir Leon and Lady Trout, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 21 September – 14 December 1977, cat. 12 (label attached verso, as ‘Hawkesbury River’) LITERATURE Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1995, cat. 454, p. 230 (erroneously catalogued as 'Picnic on the Hawkesbury River') RELATED WORK The Creek, Stanwell Park, c.1914, oil on canvas, 37.0 x 44.5 cm, Private collection, illus. in Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1995, p. 166 ESSAY In a letter to his close friend Hans Heysen in 1911, Emanuel Phillips Fox wrote that in his determination ‘to get some settled sunlight’, he, his wife (the artist Ethel Carrick) and one of Fox’s students went from London ‘to Algiers, from there South into the interior to a place called Bou Saada – where we stayed six weeks – then back to Algiers – then to Tangiers & on to Cadiz – and return’d home through Seville, Cordova, Granada, Toledo and Madrid.’1 On their way back to Paris, they painted in the south of France, further inspired by the sea and coastal towns. Fox’s palette, already enriched by his intimate study of post-impressionist art in Europe, now became even more sun-drenched and high-key in colour. On re-arrival in Australia in 1913, his recent work caused a sensation and he subsequently painted a number of canvases in late January 1914 at popular tourist sites near Sydney, including majestic Stanwell Tops at the southern edge of the Royal National Park, and Stanwell Park below. It is plausible that Fox stayed with his Australian Art Association colleague Edward Officer, who lived nearby. Figures beside the creek, Stanwell Park, c.1914, is one of seven known paintings that Fox did in the area, all of which appear to have been plein air studies, individually done in single sittings, of the cliffs and the meandering creeks that run through the park. The likely setting is the lower reaches of Stanwell Creek, with the picturesque Kelly’s Falls a short distance away. The painting blazes with light and textured impasto, animated by the figures – likely members of Fox’s and Officer’s families – clambering amongst the rocks. Whilst the artist’s mastery of colour is on full display, particularly in the right-hand section featuring the palm trees, it is also interesting to note other aspects of his technique, particularly in his treatment of the ground. As his colleague Norman Carter described, Figures beside the creek, Stanwell Park was not painted ‘on white prepared canvas, but on duck or sailcloth with a coating of glue size the colour of which would be light fawn or off-white; patches of this were often left unpainted. … In some paintings, particularly if linseed oil had been used to restore the painting, this unpainted sailcloth had darkened – but it had never been white.’ 2 This particular aspect is detectable amongst the rocks and lower cliff. In the years prior to 1913, Fox had already established himself as one of this country’s leading artists, having studied at the National Gallery School in Melbourne, then in Paris in the company of Tudor St George Tucker. On their return in 1893, the two men opened the Melbourne Art School, famed for being the most progressive in its day. In subsequent years, Fox was the first Australian to be elected into membership of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and the International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers in London, but what is less known is his impact on this country’s earliest modernists. Roland Wakelin would later recall of Fox’s exhibition in Sydney in 1913: ‘We’d never seen colour like that before… this was expression through colour.’ 3 With a provenance that includes Joseph Brown, Sir Leon and Lady Trout, and the Krongold family, Figures beside the creek, Stanwell Park is a superb example of Fox’s mature painterly technique. 1. E. P. Fox. Letter to Hans Heysen 13.09.1911. Cited in: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: his life and art, Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, p. 159 2. Roland Wakelin, recounting Norman Carter. Quoted in: Fox, L., E. Phillips Fox: notes and recollections, (self published), Sydney, NSW, 1969, pp. 29 – 30 3. Roland Wakelin, 1968, ibid., p. 29 ANDREW GAYNOR
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Woodland Scene, France oil on board signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX titled on exhibition label verso 25.5 x 33cm PROVENANCE: Private collection, Melbourne Thence by descent EXHIBITIONS: E. P. Fox Exhibition, Melbourne, May 1925, cat. no. 49 (label verso) LITERATURE: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, p. 237, cat. no. U281
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), Eaglemont, oil on panel, titled lower left, 23.5 x 15.7cm, 37 x 46cm overall. Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. This painting may possibly be a work referenced in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X.] Untraced Works, page 233, U51 "The Shed" E.P. Fox Exhibition Melbourne December,1892, No. 52, 3 Guineas.
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), portrait of a young girl, oil on panel, 23.5 x 15.7cm. Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. Compare: Leonard Joel Art Auction 28th November 2017, lot 53, Young girl portrait, 34 x 25.5cm.
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), Peasant Woman of Brittany, (landscape verso), oil on cedar panel, 26 x 21cm, 37 x 32cm overall. Provenance: Christie’s, Melbourne, 27th April, 1999, lot 319, "Peasant Woman of Brittany". Davidsons Australian & International Art Auction, Sydney, 4th November, 2018, lot 282, Artist Unknown "Peasant Woman with Cooking Pot", also "View of Cottage & Trees" verso. Recorded by Australian Art Sale Digest Website. Private Collection Melbourne. Documented in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne, "E.Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X], page 215. Cataloguge No.10 "Private Collection, Sydney. Reverse side: Country sketch-France (horizontal)"
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), Cremone Point, Sydney, oil on panel, 12 x 20cm, 25 x 31cm overall. Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. This work may possibly be a work referenced in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X.], page 236, [U224], "Morning Cremorne" E.P. Fox Exhibition Sydney, October, 1913, No. 83, 4 guineas
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915), View of Mentone Beach, oil on board, signed lower right "E.P. Fox", 19 x 26cm, 33 x 38cm overall, Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. Australian Art Auctions, Sydney, 1st July, 1991, lot 90/J "Vue de Mentone" (View of Mentone), oil on panel, 19 x 26cm This sketch of Mentone beach must have been painted from the end of the old Mentone Pier, now in total disrepair.
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), Tasmanian Crabapple Tree, Mount Wellington, (1914), oil on panel, 24 x 37cm, 40 x 53cm overall. Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. This painting may possibly be a work referenced in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X.] under the "Untraced Works", see page 237, [U284] "Hobart", E.P. Fox Exhibition, May, 1925, No 65.
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (attributed), (1865-1915), (double-sided portrait of a woman), oil on cedar panel 40 x 23cm, 55 x 38.5cm overall. Provenance: Private Collection Melbourne. This unfinished sketch is believed to be related to "The Letter" which is illustrated on page 154 in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art". [ISBN 0.522.84653.X]. Catalogue No. 306 – 303. Page 225
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915), The Fisher Girl, (1890), oil on wood panel, signed lower right "E.P. Fox", 21.5 x 11.5cm. Published in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne, "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X]. Illustrated on page 34. Private Collection Sydney, also known as "Brittany Fisher Girl", most likely from the E.P. Fox exhibition, Melbourne, December 1892, No. 24. Provenance: Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 6th November 1974, lot 64 "Brittany Fisher Girl", oil on board, signed lower right, 21.5 x 10.5 cm. Lawsons Auctioneers, Sydney, 16th September, 1986, lot 29 "Figure Study Breton Woman", oil on panel, signed lower right, E.P. Fox 21.6 x 11.3 cm.Private Collection Sydney. Davidsons Australian & International Art Auction, Sydney, 4th November 2018, lot 341, signed E.P. Fox "Peasant Woman", oil on panel, 22 x 11.5 cm. Private Collection Melbourne.
EMMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 [circle of] "Femme Nu" C1905, oil on canvas, unsigned, 91x62cms, in a period frame. Condition overall is fine, a minor repair [not visible], slight stretcher marks visible in places. From an estate sale Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, Paris, Private Collection.
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) The Seine at Les Andelys, c1909-11 oil on canvas 38 x 46 cm (frame: 45 x 53 x 6 cm) unsigned; inscribed on stretcher verso 'The Seine at Les Andelys. E Phillip Fox' | Provenance: Dr Herbert Russell Nolan, Rockwall Potts Point (thence by descent); Private Collection, Sydney acquired 2022
E. Phillips Fox and Ethel Carrick Fox Volume and Art Catalogues including Ethel Carrick Fox: Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist by Susanna de Vries, Pandanus Press 1997 hardcover; E. Phillips Fox 1865-1915 NGV1994; 2 copies of E. Phillips Fox and Ethel Carrick, Deutscher Fine Art 1997; Ethel Carrick AGDC 1979 and Emanuel Phillips Fox Clunes Galleries 1971, mostly good condition
EMMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 [circle of] "Femme Nu" C1905, oil on canvas, unsigned, 91x62cms, in a period frame. Condition overall is fine, a minor repair, slight stretcher marks visible in places. From an estate sale Saint-Ouen-Sur-Seine, Paris, Private Collection.
E. PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 Blanche et Noire White and Black 1912 oil on canvas signed and dated 'E. Phillips Fox / 1912' 100.3 x 81.3 cm PROVENANCE E. Phillips Fox, Paris Monsieur Albert Sonneville, Roubaix, France May Duhamel & Associés S.A.R.L., Roubaix, France, 16 March 2015, lot 12 Private Collection, London, acquired from the above EXHIBITED (Possibly) Catalogue of Pictures by E. Phillips Fox, The Royal Art Society, Sydney, 13-28 October 1913, no. 15, 'Portrait of a Lady' (Possibly) Catalogue of Pictures by the Late E. Phillips Fox, Upper Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, 29 February - 18 March 1916, no. 30, 'Portrait of a Lady', 200 gns (Possibly) Catalogue of Pictures by the late E. Phillips Fox, The Fine Art Society's Gallery, Melbourne, 7-11 May 1925, no. 34, 'Portrait of a Lady', or, no. 96, 'Portrait of a Lady' LITERATURE (Possibly) Tackra, 'Rare Pictures. E. Phillips Fox', The Newsletter, Sydney, 8 November 1913, p. 4 (Possibly) Ruth Zubans, E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, cat. no. U204, 'Portrait of a Lady', p. 236
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) REPOS, c.1909 – 11 oil on canvas 98.5 x 71.0 cm signed lower left: E Phillips Fox signed and inscribed with title on artist’s label verso: R [illeg.] E. Phillips Fox/ £ 20 bears inscription verso: Charles Bush / coll / BUSH PROVENANCE Charles Bush, Melbourne (inscribed verso) Sotheby’s, Melbourne, 22 August 1994, lot 63 (as ‘Le Repos (Resting)’) Private collection, Perth Deutscher~Menzies, Melbourne, 1 May 2002, lot 68 (as ‘Le Repose’) The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, Melbourne, acquired from the above EXHIBITED Possibly: Salon de la Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, (New Salon), Grand Palais, Paris, 16 April – 30 June 1911, cat. 529 Possibly: 30e Exposition de la Société Internationale de Peinture & Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 6 – 31 December 1912, cat. 48 Possibly: Catalogue of Pictures by E. Phillips Fox, Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne, 17 June – 4 July 1913, cat. 27 (as ‘Repose’) Possibly: Pictures by E. Phillips Fox, The Royal Art Society, Sydney, 13 – 28 October 1913, cat. 23 (as ‘Repose’) Australian Art/ Colonial to Contemporary, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, May – June 1995, cat. 29 (illus. in exhibition catalogue) E. Phillips Fox & Ethel Carrick, Deutscher Fine Art, Melbourne, 13 November – 6 December 1997, cat. 19 (illus. in exhibition catalogue, p. 24) Figurative Works from the Cbus Collection, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Victoria, 4 August – 2 December 2012 LITERATURE Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne 1995, cat. 343 de Vries, S., Ethel Carrick Fox: Travels and Triumphs of a Post-Impressionist, Pandanus Press, Brisbane, 1997, p. 64 (illus., as ‘Repose (Le Repos)’, c.1911) Nainby, B., Stanhope, Z., and Furlonger, K., The Cbus Collection of Australian Art, in association with Latrobe Regional Gallery, Melbourne, 2009, pp. 18, 35 (illus.), 219 (as ‘Le Repose’) RELATED WORK Nude, 1909 – 1911, oil on canvas, 49.5 x 60.3 cm, in the collection of The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Resting, c.1910 – 1911, oil on canvas, 65.0 x 81.3 cm, in the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane ESSAY Emanuel Phillips Fox married English born Ethel Carrick in 1905, after meeting her at the artists’ colony of St Ives in Cornwall. Carrick had studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and had clear artistic aspirations, as well as a strong independent streak, and Fox had undertaken his training at Melbourne’s National Gallery School, alongside Rupert Bunny and Frederick McCubbin. Together the couple shared a rich, creative life, supporting each other in their respective artistic endeavours and ambitions. As newlyweds they moved to Paris, living in a studio apartment at the Cité Fleurie in Montparnasse, described by Carrick as ‘quite a cosmopolitan little colony of hard-working artists … thirty different nationalities being represented.’1 Colour and the varied effects of light were central to Fox’s art. Indeed, as Lionel Lindsay recalled, ‘He once told me that he no longer saw anything except as a colour-sensation… His gamut of greens is extraordinary fine and varied, and the purity of his colour still holds the sunlight imprisoned in the pigment.’2 While he had been trained in an academic style, Fox always enjoyed the freedom of working outdoors, and the influence of French Impressionism – particularly as articulated by Renoir and Monet, whose work was easily accessible during Fox’s years in Paris – encouraged this, feeding in to what has been described as his natural ‘inclination towards colour, light and optical experience.’3 The example of the French intimiste painters, Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, was also significant. Focussing on the figure in intimate domestic settings, their paintings are quiet and contemplative in a manner which is almost timeless. Bonnard’s moody Siesta, 1900, acquired through the Felton Bequest by the National Gallery of Victoria in 1949, is a relevant comparison, sharing with Fox’s Repos, c.1909 – 11, both its subject – a naked woman alone in her boudoir – and an interest in the depiction of interior details and decoration. While the painterly representation of pattern is a primary element of Siesta, Fox limits the decorative details of his work to the upholstery of the chaise longue on which the figure reclines. A pattern of vertical blue and white stripes interspersed with delicate pink and floral motifs is just visible beneath the draped white sheet, and a glimpse of this same textile can also be seen in the closely related work, Resting, c.1910 – 11 (Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art). A single slipper, discarded by the model, rests on a band of soft green carpet in the foreground, but apart from these elements, the palette is restrained and limited to pale shades of cream, grey and white. This airy colouring allows Fox to focus on the representation of light and shade, and his skill is on full display in the shadows and bright highlights of the crumpled sheet, and the reflections that illuminate the window’s blinds. Most prominent in this picture, however, is the nude who reclines comfortably, arms raised and hands clasped above her head. Although not overtly erotic, Fox’s depiction of the female figure is deliberately sensuous in its physicality, as well as the intimacy of the scene. The nude became an important aspect of Fox’s oeuvre during these years and as Ruth Zubans has noted, the lack of self-consciousness which characterised his approach to the theme could only have occurred in France.4 It was a genre that featured in exhibitions at the Salon and this, no doubt, also influenced Fox in his choice of subject matter, success in this context representing a significant achievement. When Fox was made an associate of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts for Al Fresco, c.1904 (Art Gallery of South Australia), it both enhanced his status in Australia, as well as securing him a respected place among his international peers.5 Le Repos was shown at the New Salon at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1911, and in 1912 at the Exposition de la Société Internationale de Peinture & Sculpture. Fox took the painting to Australia when he returned the following year, showing it in exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney, and it was here that it later found its first owner, a fellow artist, the painter Charles Bush. 1. Carrick Fox quoted in Goddard, A., ‘An Artistic Marriage’ in Art, Love & Life: Ethel Carrick and E Phillips Fox, Queensland Art Gallery / Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2011, p. 18 2. Lindsay, L., ‘E. Phillips Fox’, Art in Australia, series 1, number 5, 1918 quoted in Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1994, p. 1 3. Zubans, ibid., p. 3 4. Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, p.155 5. Ibid., p.125 KIRSTY GRANT
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Sea at Narrabeen 1914 oil on canvas 33.0 x 46.5 cm signed lower right: E. Phillips Fox bears inscription on stretcher verso: 18/ Sea at Narrabeen
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) GOLDEN EVENING, c.1907 oil on panel 27.0 x 35.0 cm signed lower left: E PHILLIPS FOX signed and partially inscribed with title on label verso: Golden Evening / E. Phillips Fox bears inscription verso: 1 PROVENANCE Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne Private collection, Victoria, acquired from the above April 1979 EXHIBITED Possibly: Exhibition of Oil Paintings by the Late E. Phillips Fox and of Ethel Carrick, Anthony Hordern & Sons Ltd., Sydney, 1 – 15 October 1925, cat. 4 Possibly: Exhibition of Paintings by the Late E. Phillips Fox and Ethel Carrick, Athenaeum Art Gallery, Melbourne, 27 February – 10 March 1934, cat. 30 Autumn Exhibition, Joseph Brown Gallery, Melbourne, 5 – 20 April 1979, cat. 54 (illus. in exhibition catalogue)
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Gum Trees c1913 oil on canvas 46.0 x 33.0 cm signed lower right: E. Phillips Fox (partly obscured by frame) frame: original, John Thallon, Melbourne
POSSIBLY EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Untitled (Possibly Drapery Study) oil on panel 35.5 x 25cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, 1952 The Estate of Graham Joel Private collection, Melbourne by descent from the above
POSSIBLY EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Untitled (Possibly Drapery Study) oil on panel 35.5 x 25cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, 1952 The Estate of Graham Joel Private collection, Melbourne by descent from the above
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Study of a Peasant Woman (with Mauve Dress) c.1904 oil on panel 33 x 25.5cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, 1952 The Estate of Graham Joel Private collection, Melbourne by descent from the above LITERATURE: Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1995, illus. p.92 pl. C32, p. 221 as cat. no. 187
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865 - 1915) ON THE MOLO, VENICE (VERSO: LANDSCAPE), 1907 oil on wood 16.0 x 22.0 cm signed lower left: E. PHILLIPS FOX PROVENANCE Sir Keith Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria, acquired c.1952 Thence by descent Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, Cruden Farm, Victoria Thence by descent Private collection, Melbourne EXHIBITED Paintings by E. Phillips Fox, Guild Hall, Melbourne, February – March 1908, no. 25 LITERATURE Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 1995, cat. U129, p. 234 ESSAY In the spring of 1907 Emanuel Phillips Fox and his artist wife Ethel Carrick left Paris for Venice for their honeymoon. Upon their return to Melbourne in 1908, Phillips Fox held an exhibition at the Guildhall in March which included On the Molo, Venice, 1907 and 12 other Venetian subjects, followed by an exhibition in Sydney at the Grosvenor Rooms in June. Melbourne sales were reported to be successful with four Venetian subjects selling to the Northcote family.1 On the Molo, Venice was most likely sold during the Melbourne exhibition as it was not included in following Sydney selection. Ruth Zubans observed the immediate and painterly nature of the smaller Venetian panels, writing ‘Some of the Venetian studies are small poetic scenes with picturesque architecture, sailing boats and decorative figures painted quickly with a creamy brush… Some scenes with sunlight shimmering on the water, reveal a loosening of the surface, with more assertive strokes and freer colour…’2 ‘The Molo’ denotes the historic stone waterfront entrance to Venice, a favoured subject of Canaletto during the 1730s. Nearby, dominating the eastern side of the adjoining Piazza San Marco, are located St Mark’s Basilica and the Venetian Gothic style Doge’s Palace – subjects which were also painted by Phillips Fox and similarly featured in the Guildhall, Melbourne exhibition. 1. The Bulletin, 12 March 1908, cited in Zubans, R., E. Phillips Fox: His Life and Art, The Miegunyah Press, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1995, p. 140 2. Zubans, op. cit., p. 138
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) The Henhouse oil on panel 15 x 21cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, 1952 The Estate of Graham Joel Private collection, Melbourne by descent from the above
EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915) Portrait/ Royal Exhibition Building oil on panel double-sided 33 x 24cm PROVENANCE: The Estate of Ethel Carrick Fox, 1952 The Estate of Graham Joel Private collection, Melbourne by descent from the above
![EMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX (1865-1915), The Fisher Girl, (1890), oil on wood panel, signed lower right "E.P. Fox", 21.5 x 11.5cm. Published in Ruth Zubans Catalogue Raisonne, "E. Phillips Fox. His Life and Art" [ISBN 0.522.84653.X]. Illustrated on page](https://stageimg.invaluable.com/housePhotos/LeskiAuctions/97/747297/H21350-L330793415.jpg)
![*EMMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 [CIRCLE OF] "FEMME NU" C1905, OIL ON CANVAS, 91X62CMS, IN A PERIOD FRAME. FINE PERIOD PAINTING FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION.](https://stageimg.invaluable.com/housePhotos/WAArtAuctions/95/745195/H4675-L325789698.jpg)
![EMMANUEL PHILLIPS FOX 1865-1915 [CIRCLE OF] "FEMME NU" C1905, OIL ON CANVAS, UNSIGNED, 91X62CMS, IN A PERIOD FRAME.](https://stageimg.invaluable.com/housePhotos/WAArtAuctions/81/736681/H4675-L310438374.jpg)
