£600

Pen, ink and chalk
3Q X 3Q ins. (9.5 X 9.5 cms.) image size; 9D X 9D ins. (24.5 X 24.5 cms.) in frame/overall
Provenance: the artist's estate

Monnington's studies for his 'Geometric Paintings' (as he preferred to call them) are works which he crafted meticulously. He frequently reworked the same design over and over again before producing a version in tempera. 'I do feel that as President of the R.A. I should show at least one painting there a year .. I take a long time to resolve a painting problem. I take a year to do one painting because I make innumerable studies preparing the way' (Sunday Express, 19 Oct 1969).

Monnington was significantly the first President of the Royal Academy to paint abstracts, and inevitably his work was not always well received:

'The President is indeed a charming man but his work is an embarrassment. I can only recommend it to some linoleum manufacturer.' So wrote Terence Mullaly, reviewing the Royal Academy Summer Show (Daily Telegraph, 28 April 1967)

Unlike his predecessors, Monnington was prepared to throw open to debate questions about contemporary art. 'I happen to paint abstracts, but surely what matters is not whether a work is abstract or representative, but whether it has merit. If those who visit exhibitions - and this applies to artists as well as to the public - would come without preconceptions, would apply to art the elementary standards they apply in other spheres, they might glimpse new horizons. They might ask themselves: Is this work distinguished or is it commonplace? Fresh and original or uninspired, derivative and dull? Is it modest or pretentious?' (Marjorie Bruce-Milne, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 1967). At the same time Monnington was keen to defend traditional values. 'You cannot be a revolutionary and kick against the rules unless you learn first what you are kicking against. Some modern art is good, some bad, some indifferent. It might be common, refined or intelligent. You can apply the same judgements to it as you can to traditional works,' (interview with Colin Frame, undated newspaper clipping, 1967).

£800

4S X 4S ins. (11 X 11 cms.) image size; 8W X 8W ins. (21 X 21 cms.) in frame/overall
Provenance: the artist's estate

£900

Chalk, pen and ink over crayon
6D X 6D ins. (17 X 17 cms.) image size; 10E X 10E ins. (27.5 X 27.5 cms.) in frame
Provenance: the artist's estate

£900

Chalk over pencil
7W X 7W ins. (18 X 18 cms.) image size; 11 X 11 ins. (28 X 28 cms.) in frame
Provenance: the artist's estate

£1,000

Oil on canvas,
7 x 5 in. (17.7 x 12.8 cm.)
In a glazed square section limed oak frame with gilded hollow and limed oak lap jointed inner slip

John Monnington, the artist’s son, recalls that, as the summer light began to dwindle, his father would wander out with his artist’s materials and paint a rapid impression of the surrounding landscape.  Sometimes these served as studies for fuller compositions, worked up in the studio.  This study is likely to have been undertaken at Crawley Down in Sussex where Monningtons mother lived.

We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.

£900

Inscribed with title on the reverse by the artist’s son, John
Pencil, 13⅜ × 11⅝ in. (34 × 32 cm.)
Provenance: James Monnington, the artist’s son

‘Tom Monnington and Winifred Knights depended on Shaw (1882–1974) for his excellent judgement. He was appointed Secretary to the British School at Rome where his enormous charm and intellectual integrity quickly gained him immense respect, both from students and the great and the good in the arts. He had a vast circle of contacts who were also good friends. His judgement in the matter of choosing suitable applicants for the Rome Scholarship was excellent’ (John Monnington, email to Paul Liss, 10 February 2007).

We are grateful to John Monnington for assistance.

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Charcoal over intersecting diagonals in red wax crayon,
sight size 21½ Ã— 17½ in.(54.6 × 44.5 cm.),
overall size 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm.)

Provenance: The Artist's Estate; Nick Bowlby; Rachel Moss
Literature: Sir Thomas Monnington, exh. cat.. The Fine Art Society, London, 1997, p. 56

Framed in a slim reeded d-section gilded frame with a conservation ivory mount.

Monnington began designs for fourteen Stations of the Cross for St George’s Parish Church, Brede, Sussex, in 1959; he exhibited studies for Jesus Meets his Mother and Jesus Falls for the First Time at the Royal Academy that year.The works were commissioned by the Rector of Brede, the Revd Percy Hill, with the support of Bishop George Bell, who enthusiastically endorsed Hill’s choice: ‘If you could get Monnington it would be wonderful.’ Monnington accepted thecommission at a cost of £100 for each station. He expressed a preference to execute the works as frescoes but, since the surface of the ancient walls did not allow this, painted them instead in tempera on panel.The work took several years to complete, and Monnington became deeply moved by the subject matter. The last four or five stations are markedly different in style from the earlier ones, as Monnington was increasingly drawn towards abstraction. Strong stylistic parallels can be made between Monnington’s Stations and Paul Nash’s twelve wood-cuts for Genesis (Nonesuch Press, London, 1924).