Lot 84 , Arthur Victor Coverley-Price, (1901-1988), 'Urubamba River, Northern Peru - Machenga Indians preparing to load the canoes' immediately before launching in to the rapids in which Professor Gregory lost his life, June 2 19

Arthur Victor Coverley-Price ((1901-1988))
'Urubamba River, Northern Peru - Machenga Indians preparing to load the canoes' immediately before launching in to the rapids in which Professor Gregory lost his life, June 2 1932'
signed lower right,
en grisaille watercolour heightened with white on paper, laid on card,
29.5cm x 39cm (unframed)

Professor John Walter Gregory (1864–1932) was a distinguished British geologist, geographer, and explorer whose pioneering research helped shape modern understanding of glacial geology, rift valleys, and the geological history of Africa, Australia, and Asia. Born in London, he studied at Birkbeck before joining the Geological Department of the Natural History Museum, later becoming Professor of Geology at the University of Melbourne and subsequently at the University of Glasgow. Gregory led numerous scientific expeditions around the world and published hundreds of papers and influential books, including studies of the Great Rift Valley, which contains the feature now known as the Gregory Rift in his honour. In 1932, while leading a Royal Geographical Society expedition across the Andes to investigate Peru’s volcanic and earthquake regions, he was killed when his canoe overturned in the rapids of the Urubamba River near the Pongo de Mainique gorge in Peru on 2 June 1932. His death at the age of 68 ended one of the most adventurous and productive scientific careers of his era.

Victor Coverley-Price was a painter, writer and diplomat who was conversant in several languages. As a diplomat, he was frequently in Germany, but also in the Middle East, South Africa, Canada, South America and Kashmir with the Diplomatic Service. In addition, he was enthusiastic about mountain climbing. Coverley-Price joined the 1932 expedition in the Peruvian Andes that claimed the life of Professor John Walter Gregory, although Coverley-Price survived the disaster. The en grisaille watercolour technique was used as an illustration for his book “An Artist Among Mountains”.

£150-250

Sold for £100