Summer Exhibition, Connaught Brown, 2 Albemarle Street, London W1, until 15^th July 2017

I have selected these two images from the gallery’s very enjoyable summer show.

Chagall ‘Le Peintre au chevalet’ (1948)

The Chagall self-portrait was done in 1948 on his return to Paris after the War.  The dark tones used reflect his own disquiet at returning given what had happened in France during the War. The female figure is somewhat enigmatic and is probably a representation of his wife Bella who had succumbed to illness in 1944 but it is worth remembering that he had a young lover, Virginia Haggard, with whom he set up a home just outside Paris in 1948.

Andrews ‘Shell Chemicals, Carrington Plant, Cheshire’ (1953)

The Michael Andrews picture was a study for a commission by Shell Oil.  They had asked young contemporary artists and students to produce works that depicted the oil industry which were shown in the 1955 exhibition ‘The Artist’s View of an Industry’ at the Mall Galleries. Other artists included Peter Coker, Derrick Greaves and Edward Middleditch.

http://www.connaughtbrown.co.uk