Lot 128 , Arthur Meric Bloomfield Boyd, (Australian, 1920-1999), Figure and beast in a landscape
§ Arthur Meric Bloomfield Boyd ((Australian, 1920-1999))
Figure and beast in a landscape,
circa 1960,
signed lower right,
oil on board,
50cm x 63cm
Provenance: Purchased by the current owner's parents in the early 1960s from Melbourne-born interior designer Lex Aitken (1930-2013).
Lex Aitken became one of London’s most respected and discreet interior designers, admired for his refined aesthetic sensibility, deep knowledge of art and furniture, and exceptional eye for sourcing important works.
Raised within a family connected to substantial property holdings in Victoria, he was expected to follow a more conventional path, yet from an early age his interests lay firmly in the arts. He studied Fine Art and History, excelling particularly in sculpture before leaving Australia for Europe in 1950, a journey that proved transformative both personally and professionally. During the voyage he shared a cabin with the New Zealand author and poet Lois Hunter, who became a lifelong friend and introduced him to an influential artistic circle that included Arthur Boyd, Brett Whiteley, Clement Meadmore and Michael Johnson, many of whom later sought his advice and companionship while in London.
After arriving in England, Aitken quickly established himself within London society through his natural flair, scholarship and instinctive understanding of interiors, beginning his career with the decorator Charles Howard, who recognised his talent and sold him a half share in the business during the mid-1950s. In the early 1960s Aitken opened his own practice at 84 Pimlico Road, where he built an international reputation for interiors distinguished by elegance, connoisseurship and restraint. Although widely admired by clients and contemporaries including Lucian Freud, James Lees-Milne and Geoffrey Bennison, he remained steadfastly private throughout his career, invariably declining requests from publications wishing to feature his work, believing discretion and integrity to be essential qualities of his profession.
£10,000-15,000
This atmospheric composition depicts a dark, stylised figure advancing through a densely worked landscape towards a horned stag-like animal rendered in sweeping passages of white and grey paint. Set against a luminous blue sky, the scene is characterised by energetic brushwork and a palette of deep earth tones, creating a sense of movement and psychological tension.
The juxtaposition of human and animal forms is a recurring motif in Arthur Boyd's work. Throughout his career, Boyd explored themes drawn from mythology, biblical narratives and the Australian landscape, often employing symbolic encounters between figures and beasts to create images that exist between observation and imagination. In the present work, the identities of both protagonists remain deliberately ambiguous, allowing the composition to function as an allegorical rather than descriptive scene.
The painting demonstrates Boyd's expressive handling of paint, with forms emerging from and dissolving back into the surrounding landscape. The vigorous application of pigment and the freedom of the drawing are characteristic of the artist's mature approach, in which narrative subject matter is balanced by an increasingly painterly concern with colour, gesture and atmosphere.
Untitled works of this nature reflect Boyd's continuing interest in the relationship between humanity and the natural world, themes that remained central to his practice throughout the latter half of the twentieth century.
Sold for £17,000