Blair Hughes-Stanton was the only son of a successful landscape painter, Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton. He had little formal education, joining a cadet school ship at the age of 13. As an artist, he trained at the Byam Shaw School of Art, where he was greatly influenced by Leon Underwood. In 1921, he moved to Underwood’s new school in Hammersmith and when Underwood went to America in 1925, Hughes-Stanton was left in charge of the school. Although he continued to paint and draw, he soon gained a reputation for his wood-engravings. Hughes-Stanton's first published works were illustrations to T.E. Lawrence’s The Seven Pillar’s of Wisdom, 1926. He married Gertrude Hermes, a well known British printmaker, in the same year. Much of Hughes-Stanton’s subsequent work was in the form of illustrations for private press books, first with the Cressent and Golden Cockerel Presses and then, from 1930–33, for the Gregynog Press in Wales. Between 1928–30, he was closely associated with D.H. Lawrence and illustrated several of his books. It was partly in response to the philosophy of these novels and partly to his new affair with Ida Graves that he created the overtly sexual iconography that marks the prints of this period. In 1933–36, he established Gemini Press, with the backing of Robert Sainsbury, but by 1935, the Depression had put an end to commissions for illustrative works, and he returned to the single sheet print. Hughes-Stanton's prints of the later 1930s are notable in their concern with modernist abstraction. He won an international prize for engraving at the Venice Biennale in 1938. During World War II, he worked in camouflage with the Royal Engineers, after which he was sent to Greece, where he was captured, became a PoW, and was shot in the face. Following the war, commissions for private press books dried up, and his war wound seriously affected his three-dimensional vision. He found work teaching at Westminster School of Art 1947–48, and from 1948 Hughes-Stanton was a lecturer in printmaking and drawing at the Society of Wood Engravers, St. Martins and the Central School of Art. He later lived in Manningtree, Essex.
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Myth III - British 1936 Modern art tempera painting Ida Graves poet family
By Blair Hughes-Stanton
Located in Hagley, England
This superb British 1930's modern art tempera painting is by noted interwar artist Blair Hughes-Stanton. Painted in 1936 it is part of the myth se...
Egg Tempera
Blair Hughes-Stanton 'Reclining Nude' abstract oil painting British Surrealism
By Blair Hughes-Stanton
Located in London, GB
To see our other Modern British Art, scroll down to "More from this Seller" and below it click on "See all from this Seller" - or send us a message if you cannot find the artist you want. Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902-1981) Reclining Nude, c. 1936 Tempera on canvas 76.5 x 102 cm Signed lower right 'Blair H S'. Provenance: The estate of the artist. A magnificent abstract nude rendered in a dynamic colour palette. This is probably Hughes-Stanton's most important work, and belongs to the nation's great, if brief, period of British Surrealism. The three major elements are distinct: the pastel tones of the window view and wall, the sensual curvatures of the pale nude, and the bold foreground featuring a fantastically accomplished still life of a fruit bowl (which could be a painting in and of itself) and the impressively phallic chair back. This is a brilliant example of erotic modernist abstraction. Blair Hughes-Stanton, son of the artist Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton, was a noted British artist of the interwar period. At the age of 13 he joined the Royal Navy training ship HMS Coway, but at 19 - advised by his father - he abandoned the sea for his paintbox. He studied art at Byam Shaw School (1919-1922) where he was influenced by Leon Underwood (who was a major influence throughout his studying), Royal Academy Schools (1922-23), and Leon Underwood's School (1923-25). He was celebrated mostly for his skills as an engraver, and was a founding member of the English Wood Engraving Society when it was established in 1925. His first wife was the printmaker Gertrude Hermes...
Canvas, Tempera
Modern British 20th C watercolour drawing of Thetis laments by Hughes-Stanton
By Blair Hughes-Stanton
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Blair Hughes-Stanton – ‘Thetis Laments’ 1952 The watercolour is signed by the artist lower right in pencil 'Blair HS' and dated (19)52. It was exhibited in June 1954 at The Leicester...
Ink, Watercolor
Modern British 20th C watercolour drawing of bathers by Blair Hughes-Standon
By Blair Hughes-Stanton
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
Blair Hughes-Stanton (British, 1902-1981) The Bathers Ink and watercolour Signed and dated `Blair HS 38’ (lower right) 13.1/2 x 20 in. (34.4 x 50.7 cm.)
Ink, Watercolor
$350
H 10.04 in W 13.78 in
Couple in a gig greeting neighbors along a country road - English School, 19th C
Located in Middletown, NY
A lovely Regency era composition with a billowing sky and timber-framed houses; likely the Cotswolds or East Anglia. English School, 19th century c1820. Pen and ink in grayish black ...
Ink, Watercolor, Handmade Paper
$2,572
H 15.36 in W 10.63 in D 0.99 in
Virgin of Kataphyge and St. John, after a Byzantine Bulgarian Icon 14th Century
Located in Segovia, ES
The Virgin of Kataphyge with Saint John the Evangelist, after a Bulgarian Byzantine icon of the 14th Century. Egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso and wood. Author: Oliver Samsinger...
Gold Leaf
Jurassic Coast, Dorset
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor on heavy gauge watercolor, 4 1/8 x 11 3/4 (105 x 299 mm), the full sheet. In good condition with scattered minor surface soiling, and light scattered foxing. Colors slight...
Watercolor
Interior still life, Beaumont
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor on heavy gauge watercolor paper, 14 x 9 3/4 inches (352 x 248 mm), the full sheet. Titled in pencil in the lower left margin. With a garden landscape in watercolor on the ...
Watercolor
The Red Hat oil on canvas by Moses Soyer
By Moses Soyer
Located in Hudson, NY
Realist oil painting by Moses Soyer. The artist was often quoted as saying, "My message is people." He was always looking to find who the person within was. Soyer and his brothers Raphael and Isaac were all successful artists. Moses Soyer began his art studies at the Cooper Union and National Academy of Design, the Education Alliance, and eventually moved to the Ferrer Art School in Harlem to study with teachers who promoted the Ashcan style of painting. This style promoted unglamorized representations of everyday life and a focus on social realism. When many artists shifted to abstract expressionism Soyer...
Canvas, Oil
Cliffs, Dorset
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor on watercolor paper, 9 3/4 x 12 1/4 inches (248 x 311 mm), the full sheet. Scattered light toning, especially at the sheet edges. Minor, light area of clustered brown spot...
Watercolor
Woods and Country Manor
Located in Middletown, NY
A bucolic woods landscape with an ivy-covered country manor. Watercolor and graphite on heavy gauge watercolor paper, 4 7/8 x 7 inches (125 x 178 mm), the full sheet. In very good c...
Watercolor, Graphite
The Mount Willow
Located in Middletown, NY
Watercolor and gouache on heavy gauge watercolor paper, 9 1/2 x 15 1/8 inches (242 x 385 mm), the full sheet. Titled in pencil on the verso. Scattered edge wear, and small losses at ...
Watercolor
$350
H 3.67 in W 6.42 in
Cattle in a rural landscape with castle ruins and a church
By John Varley
Located in Middletown, NY
Pen and ink and watercolor on wove paper laid down to board, 3 5/8 x 6 3/8 inches (93 x 163 mm), the full sheet. With an illigible signature in brown ink in the lower right corner, r...
Ink, Watercolor
Colourful Large Female Nude, Femme Nue Allongée
Located in Cotignac, FR
Colourful, large oil on canvas female nude by Isabelle Pardoe. The painting is not signed but came directly from the atelier of the artist. Isabell Pardoe trained at the Slade scho...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Two views of the sea, Dorset
Located in Middletown, NY
Two watercolor compositions on one sheet of watercolor paper, 10 x 6 7/8 inches (255 x 175 mm), the full sheet. Signed illegibly and dated in pencil on the lower right corner of the ...
Watercolor, Pencil, Ink
$1,751
H 25.99 in W 20.48 in D 1.19 in
Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens Period Watercolour Picture Portrait
By Alfred Émile Léopold Stevens
Located in Roma, IT
Beautiful painting in gouache technique depicting a distinguished young lady. The noblewoman presents a pose of rare elegance, with one hand resting on a planter and the other holdin...
Paper, Tempera
Isolation
By Blair Hughes-Stanton
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Blair Hughes-Stanton, 'Isolation', color wood engraving, 1959, edition 15. Signed, titled, dated and numbered '6/15' in pencil. Superb, richly-inked impressions, with fresh, vibrant colors, on heavy, cream, wove, Japan paper; the full sheet with wide margins (2 to 9 1/8 inches). Minor toning at the sheet edges, well away from the images, otherwise in excellent condition. Created as book illustrations, the images are positioned on the sheet accordingly; each image 3 3/4 x 6 1/4 inches; sheet size 16 x 20 inches. Matted to museum standards, unframed. Scarce. ABOUT THE ARTIST Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902-1981) was the only son of a successful landscape painter, Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton. He had little formal education, joining a cadet school ship at the age of 13. As an artist, he trained at the Byam Shaw School, where he was greatly influenced by Leon Underwood. In 1921, he moved to Underwood’s new school in Hammersmith and when Underwood went to America in 1925, Hughes-Stanton was left in charge of the school. Although he continued to paint and draw, he soon gained a reputation for his wood-engravings. His first published works were illustrations to T.E. Lawrence’s 'The Seven Pillar’s of Wisdom...
Woodcut