Lot 61: PETER POTWOROWSKI 1898 - 1962

THE WINDOW

63.5 by 51cm., 25 by 20in.

signed twice

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Magdalene Street Gallery, Cambridge

EXHIBITED

London, Gimpel Fils, Geoffrey Clarke/Peter Potworowski, 1952, no.64;
London, Gimpel Fils, 1953, no.11;
London, A.I.A. New Burlington Gardens, The Mirror and the Square, 1953, no.153;
Bradford, City of Bradford Art Gallery, 1953.

NOTE

Painted circa 1950, during the time that Potworowski was teaching at Corsham Court. A Polish emigré, Potworowski first arrived in the U.K in 1943 and from 1946 until 1957 he spent long periods in in Cornwall, renting a cottage near Sancreed. A well respected figure at Corsham, Potworowski's colleagues during these years included Lanyon, Wynter, Frost and Armitage who later recalled 'He came from an outside world, from a longer timespan; he brought a foreign flavour and his values and approach were different'. In 1958 Potworowski left for Poland with his second wife intending to stay a year, but remained there for the rest of his life.