SIR MUIRHEAD BONE (1867 – 1953)
The Orangery of Deniécourt Château, near Péronne, 1917
charcoal
51.5 cm x 73.5 cm
The Deniécourt Chateau was built by the Hervilly family in the 18th century who lived there until months before its desolation. Skeletal trees and scarred land with remnants of masonry and ironwork were all that remained of the beautiful brick and stone house by 1917. In his role as an official war artist during World War I, Muirhead Bone made several trips to France. This work dates from his second journey there in 1917, during which he took a particular interest in depicting architectural ruins. Bone had a long-held interest in architecture, having originally trained as an architect in his home town of Glasgow.
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Bonhams Knightsbridge, 1 October 2014, lot 134.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 18 September 2018, lot 87, where purchased.
Exhibited
Worcester Art Museum, War Paintings and Drawings by British Artists, 1919, no.8, with Ministry of Information tour to U.S.A.
Welbeck, Harley Gallery, Kindred Spirits, November 2021 - February 2022.
Literature
The Western Front: Drawings by Muirhead Bone, published by the War Office, London, 1917, vol.2, part VII, no. 25, illustrated.