John Hambleton Holdcroft

Abstract No.1 by Mid Century British artist John Hambleton Holdcroft, geometric

Norman Edgar Hubert (British, 1906 – 1985) Geometric abstract in black and white Signed and dated ‘E Hubert 55’ (on the reverse) Gouache on black paper 25.3/8 x 20.3/4 in. (64.3 x 53 cm.) Abstract painter, born Norman Edgar Hubert in Billingshurst, Sussex, and one of the mysterious curiosities of modern British painting. He was at school at Sherborne, and after studying art at University of Reading, 1924–6, was at the Slade School of Fine Art, 1926–9 (gaining a certificate for drawing, 1926–7). Henry Tonks was among his teachers and he shared rooms with William Townsend, in whose journals he appears. Although he socialized with such painters as Geoffrey Tibble, William Coldstream and Rodrigo Moynihan...

Edmond Xavier Kapp (British, 1890 – 1978) Toccata 23 Ink on paper Signed and dated ‘Kapp 76’ (lower right) 9.1/2 x 14 in. (24.3 x 35.5 cm.) Edmond Kapp was born in Islington, London, on 5 November 1890, of American and German Jewish parentage. He gave himself the middle initial ‘X’ – sometimes said to stand for Xavier – to distinguish himself from his father Emil Kapp, who was a wine merchant. However, his parents called him ‘Eddie’ while his wife and friends knew him as ‘Peter’. During his early years, Kapp was continually ill and, while convalescing, entertained himself by drawing at home. As his health improved, he attended Dame Alice Owen’s School, Islington (1903-10), with periods at Berlin University (1909) and L’Institut Français pour les Etrangers, Paris (1909). He then read Languages at Christ’s College, Cambridge (1910-13), though spent most of his time writing and drawing. Kapp took a studio in London, and worked intensively until the outbreak of the First World War, contributing to the Daily News, the Onlooker and other periodicals. During the war, he served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment on the Western Front, and then in Intelligence, rising to the position of Staff Captain on Haig’s Staff. Finally, he founded and directed the Neutral Press Counter-propaganda Section. In 1919, Kapp returned to London and, after abortive periods at three art schools, worked alone. In that year, he made his name with an exhibition of caricatures, held at Furst’s Gallery, London, and accompanied by a catalogue introduced by Max Beerbohm. This soon led to contracts with three London periodicals and a book of caricatures, Personalities, published by Martin Secker. Through the 1920s and 30s, his drawings of musicians and other personalities appeared in a wide variety of periodicals, most notably Time & Tide; were collected in further volumes; and were exhibited at the Leicester Galleries. He considered himself to be a ‘character-portraitist’, producing images of psychological not satirical power, and disliking the term ‘caricature’. Between the wars, Kapp developed other aspects of his artistic talents, the desire to study and the search for subject matter often taking him abroad. For instance, work at the British Academy, Rome, under Antonio Sciortino...

Balcomb Greene Composition, 1936 Signed Balcomb Greene on verso upper stretcher bar Signed on backing board: Balcomb Greene Oil on canvas 30 1/4 x 46 inches Provenance: The artist A...

A dynamic interplay of vivid colour and bold geometry, this striking abstract painting by David Leverett exemplifies his signature fusion of movement and structure. This composition ...