Lot 163: GLYN WARREN PHILPOT, R.A. (1884-1937) - Young Love in the Lap of his Mother

GLYN WARREN PHILPOT, R.A. (1884-1937)
Young Love in the Lap of his Mother
oil on canvas
36 x 29 1/8 in. (91.5 x 73.9 cm.)
Painted in 1934-37.


PROVENANCE:
The artist, and by descent to Rosemary Smallet, London.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 13 December 2007, lot 72, where
purchased by the present owner.
EXHIBITED:
London, Art Exhibitions Bureau, Glyn Philpot, exhibition not traced.
London, Leighton House Museum, Retrospective Exhibition: Drawings,
Paintings and Sculpture by Glyn Warren Philpot, R.A., 1884-1937, February 1959,
no. 53.
LITERATURE:
A. Sewter (intro.), Glyn Philpot 1884-1937, London, 1951, p. xi, pl. 99.
Glyn Philpot established a distinguished reputation as a painter of society
portraits in the years before the outbreak of the First World War, and was
rewarded with election as an A.R.A. in 1915 and R.A. in 1923 at notably
young ages. He was never content to rest on his laurels, however, and the last
years of his career in the 1930s saw him adopting a style heavily infuenced
by progressive Parisian painting which alienated much of his clientele.
While portraiture was his main source of income, Philpot always interspersed
commissioned portraits with subject paintings ranging from genre and ballet
subjects to the religious, mythological and mystical. The more eccentric of
these often received mixed reviews and caused controversy at the Royal
Academy when exhibited.
Painted in his last years of his life Young Love in the Lap of his Mother
references Greek myth, a theme that Philpot revisited numerous times
throughout his career. The title suggests it is a depiction of the God Eros, the
daemon (personifcation) of love, and his mother Aphrodite. Philpot’s more
progressive style is evident in the bold lines, his loose brushwork and the
elegant, almost mannerist, composition.
If not for the title, the present work could easily be understood as a Pietà,
the depiction of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ.
Philpot was deeply religious having converted to Catholicism shortly after
he turned 21, in October 1905. His interest in religious themes was clearly
heightened by his election in 1929 as President of the newly constituted
Guild of Catholic Artists and Craftsmen, formed to celebrate the centenary
of Catholic emancipation.
Similar to more traditional religious paintings, the composition of the present
work draws the eye around the canvas as it follows the drapery and the
sculptural limbs of the two fgures. The carefully positioned hands of both
mother and son hark back to Renaissance paintings and sculpture in their
stance, yet the striking cobalt eyes and bold use of colour convey Philpot’s
innovated aesthetic.