John Arthur Malcolm Aldridge Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, Illustrator, b. 1905 - d. 1983

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      • § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 25, 2024

        § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £2,000 - £3,000

        § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Lilac signed and dated 'John Aldridge / 13 May 49' (lower left); further titled dated reverse oil on board 45 x 60cm Provenance: With The Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, where purchased in October 1988

        Cheffins
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 02, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £2,500 - £3,500

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Bridge Street, Great Bardfield signed 'John Aldridge' l.r., oil on canvas laid on board 27 x 35.5cm Condition Report: Framed: 36 x 45cm A little surface dirt, may benefit from a light clean. Rubbing to the lower right edge. The paint appears a little thin in place, please refer to illustration. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 02, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £1,500 - £2,500

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Quince Tree by a Frozen Ditch' signed 'John Aldridge' l.r., also signed, inscribed with title and dated 'Winter 1956-57' verso, oil on board 22 x 31.5cm Condition Report: Framed: 40.5 x 50cm Appears to be in good order. Not examined under UV light, for a full report, please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • Pictures & Prints - John Aldridge (1905-1983), Wooded Garden, lithograph on card, signed, 51cm x 63cm
        Sep. 26, 2024

        Pictures & Prints - John Aldridge (1905-1983), Wooded Garden, lithograph on card, signed, 51cm x 63cm

        Est: £20 - £30

        Pictures & Prints - John Aldridge (1905-1983), Wooded Garden, lithograph on card, signed, 51cm x 63cm

        Bamfords Auctioneers and Valuers Ltd
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Aug. 13, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £250 - £350

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Kitchen Table' of the artist, Place House, Great Bardfield inscribed with title l.l., pencil 22 x 26cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale. Condition Report: Framed: 34.5 x 37.5cm Time staining with some small scattered brown spots and speckles. Two light diagonal crease marks to the bottom left corner. Well presented and ready to hang. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge (British, 1905-1983) Fiesole
        Jul. 17, 2024

        John Aldridge (British, 1905-1983) Fiesole

        Est: £1,500 - £2,000

        John Aldridge (British, 1905-1983) Fiesole titled and dated 'FIESOLI/c.1929' (on canvasboard verso) oil on canvasboard 19.5 x 29.5cm (7 11/16 x 11 5/8in).

        Bonhams
      • § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        May. 23, 2024

        § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £100 - £200

        § John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Urbino signed 'John Aldridge' (lower left); titled and dated 19th September 58 (lower right) pencil 25 x 20cm

        Cheffins
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £3,000 - £5,000

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) THE PLACE HOUSE: THE ARTIST'S DRAWING ROOM, GREAT BARDFIELD initialled (lower left), oil on board 59.5cm x 49.5cm (23 ½in x 19 1.2in) Abbott & Holder, London, from whom acquired by the present owner. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £1,500 - £2,000

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) COWS GRAZING NEAR GREAT BARDFIELD, c. 1970 oil on card 23.5cm x 28.5cm (9 ¼in x 11 ¼in) Abbot and Holder, London, from whom acquired by the present owner. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £3,000 - £5,000

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) SEA KALE, 1931 signed, inscribed and dated (to reverse), oil on board 59.5cm x 85cm (23 ½in x 33 ½in) The Collection of Sir Michael Sadler;Craddock & Barnard, London. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £1,500 - £2,000

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) MEDITERRANEAN VILLAGE oil on card 40cm x 64cm (15 ¾in x 29in) Abbott & Holder, London, from whom acquired by the parents of the present owner. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £500 - £700

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) GROTTO IN THE BOBOLI GARDENS, FLORENCE, CONTAINING GIAMBOLOGNA'S 'VENUS OF THE LITTLE GROTTO', 1944/45 pen, ink and watercolour 30.5cm x 42.5cm (12in x 16 ¾in) Abbott & Holder, London, from whom acquired by the present owner. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £300 - £500

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) SAN SEVERO, 1945 titled, inscribed JA for AEOW and dated Feb 45 (to lower edge), pencil, sepia ink and wash on paper 23.5cm x 30cm (9 ¼in x 11 ¾in) John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)
        Apr. 26, 2024

        § JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983)

        Est: £2,500 - £3,500

        JOHN ALDRIDGE R.A. (BRITISH 1905-1983) STREAM BELOW DEYA (DEIÀ), 1930 signed, inscribed and dated (to reverse), oil on card 41.5cm x 52cm (16 ¼in x 20 ½in) The Estate of the Artist;Abbott & Holder, London, from whom acquired by the present owner. John Aldridge met Lucie Brown (née Saunders) in London in the early 1930s. Having studied at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, the self-taught Aldridge was emerging as an artist of promise in the capital’s art scene, showing with the Seven and Five Society from 1931, at the invitation of Ben Nicholson and receiving a solo exhibition at the Leicester Galleries two years later.  Brown trained at the Heatherley School of Fine Art and had established a dress-making studio. In 1933 they moved to Place House in the Essex village of Great Bardfield, where they became central figures in the informal gathering of artists based there, headed by Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, along with their wives Charlotte Epton and Tirzah Garwood.  The group of works presented here cover forty years of Aldridge’s career, from 1930 and one of the first of many visits to his friend Robert Graves in Deià on Majorca, to a pastoral scene near Great Bardfield of approximately 1970. It ranges across genres from landscape to still life and the interior in paintings and works on paper.  A rare surviving example of Lucie’s rag rugs, Garden of c.1935, completes the collection. Aldridge and Brown married in 1940, so that she would inherit his pension should he die whilst on active service during World War Two. He joined the Intelligence Corps and was stationed in the UK, Africa and Mediterranean. He painted and sketched when circumstances permitted, as can be seen in San Severo of 1945 and Grotto in the Boboli Gardens, Florence of 1944-45. Lucie’s sister Agnes and their nanny Ninnie, moved in with her at Place House for three years whilst John was away on war duties. Ninnie taught Lucie the art of hooked rug weaving and, as can be seen in Garden, she ’transformed a humble popular craft into a rich and original art form’ (Olive Cook quoted in Robjn Cantus, Before & After Great Bardfield: The Artistic Memoirs of Lucie Aldridge with a Postscript by Robjn Cantus, Inexpensive Progress, Cambridge, 2021, p.176). Following his demobilisation, John joined in the pursuit and a jointly made carpet of 1953 is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (CRIC.529-1953).  The decorating and furnishing of the artists’ houses is a key aspect of the Great Bardfield art historical legacy, as captured in The Place House: The Artist’s Drawing Room, Great Bardfield. The historic property was in a state of neglect when purchased by Aldridge and he and Lucie worked hard to renovate the house and its overgrown garden. Cantus has explained how: ‘Colour started to come in as the walls were painted; John decorated one room red with a fantasy mural of exotic plants. They changed the wine-red sitting room carpet for a yellow one... The sitting room had the Moss wallpaper [designed by Aldridge], a blue and white striped sofa much like a butcher’s apron and Victorian furniture. There was a curious selection of china throughout the house… Lucie made the house a home, arranging furniture and the crafted items John loved. She was an excellent arranger of floral displays, using flowers from the garden of Place House. Visitors commented on how it made the house feel more alive.’ (Robjn Cantus, ibid, p. 176) Paintings by artist friends including Ben Nicholson, Stanley Spencer and Frances Hodgkins hung on the walls, but Olive Cook was especially drawn to Lucie’s creations, writing: ‘The interior of The Place was…striking, with its bold wallpapers, draped mantelshelves, Victoriana, opulent flower arrangements and cottage furniture. The rugs above all caught the eye. They were rag rugs designed and made by Lucie.’ (Olive Cook, ‘The Fry Art Gallery’, Olive Cook and Andrew Lambirth, Artists at the Fry: Art & Design in the North West Essex Collection, Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2012, pp.9-10) Following Lucie’s departure in 1960, she and Aldridge divorced and he married Margaret ‘Gretl’ Cameron. With the death of Ravilious in 1942, Bawden’s move to Saffron Walden in 1970 and the dispersal of the generation of artists who had arrived in the village after World War Two, Aldridge became the sole survivor of the glory days of Great Bardfield’s artistic chapter, remaining in Place House until his death in 1983; Lucie had pre-deceased him in 1974. 

        Lyon & Turnbull
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Pond a preparatory study for Aldridge's 'Mill in Essex' lithograph, c.1938, with a further sketch verso, pencil 20.5 x 32cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; purchased by the current owner from the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden. Condition Report: Framed: 30.5 x 41cm Time staining with light crease marks to the top left corner. There is a small brown spot of foxing to the left of mill in the upper left corner, and brown stain to the upper right corner, please see images. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Beside the river pen and ink 22.5 x 38cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, June 2012. Condition Report: Framed: 36.5 x 50cm A tiny pinhole in the extreme upper left corner. There is a thin strip of faint brown discolouration to the upper right edge. A couple of small spots of foxing starting to emerge. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) The allotments with artist's studio stamp l.r., pen and ink 18 x 27cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale. This is a preparatory sketch relating to 'The Allotments', 1949, oil on canvas, held by the Fry Gallery. Condition Report: Framed: 31 x 39.5cm Time staining. Light creasing and faint dirty smudges to the top edge. Some small spots of foxing starting to emerge in the centre, and to the lower right corner. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Cattle grazing pencil 20.5 x 25.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, December 2012. Condition Report: Framed: 33 x 37.5cm Time staining. A small brown spot to the bottom right corner. There is a dark brown mark which appears to be paint in the bottom right quarter and it is unclear if this is by the hand of the artist, please see images. Light creasing to the extreme corners. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Mill House, Great Bardfield pen and ink 19 x 24.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, December 2012. Condition Report: Framed: 29.5 x 34.5cm Two light creases to the top edge and a further light crease to the bottom of the left edge. Some scattered spots of foxing, please see images. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £4,000 - £6,000

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Clock House Farm, Little Sampford signed and dated 'John Aldridge 71' l.l., oil on board 31 x 41cm, together with a handwritten letter from the artist (2) Provenance: The current owner lived in the house depicted in Clock House Farm. They contacted John Aldridge on its completion and bought this painting directly from him in 1972. Condition Report: Framed: 52 x 62.cm A couple of extemely tiny speckles of light surface dirt. There are some very faint dirty marks to the sky along the right edge, please see images, but in our opinion this does not affect overall enjoyment of the work. Appears to be in otherwise good condition. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £300 - £400

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'An Essex Farmyard' lithograph in colours, 1948, signed 'John Aldridge' in pencil l.r. image 40.5 x 52.5cm Provenance: With Redfern Gallery, London. Condition Report: Framed: 62.5 x 73.5cm Well presented and ready to hang. There is slight timestaining but the work appears to be in otherwise good condition. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £100 - £150

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) A horse-drawn single furrow plough pencil, pen and ink 11 x 19cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale. Condition Report: Framed: 25 x 32cm Light time staining. A dirty diagonal crease to the bottom left. Some faint brown stains to the right side, please refer to images. Ready to hang.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £100 - £150

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Ruined Cottage' pencil 16 x 19cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale. Condition Report: Framed: 29 x 30.5cm Light time staining with some slight creasing to the upper right and lower left corners. Some small spots of foxing starting to emerge. Well presented and ready to hang. Not examined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 09, 2024

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £100 - £150

        ▲ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Study of a Farm Cart and Tractor Engine' pencil, pen and ink 18 x 25cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale. Condition Report: Framed: 29 x 35cm Light time staining with some very slight creasing to the bottom left corner. Overall presents well and is ready to hang. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Jan. 09, 2024

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £100 - £150

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Heath Farm, Flamstead' inscribed with title l.r., pen and ink 10.5 x 17cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, November 2012. Condition Report: Framed: 22 x 27cm Light discolouration to the paper. The work has a vertical centre fold with further fold marks to the upper corners and creasing to the lower left corner. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge (1905-1983) Garden view; Dedham House; Morley House; Staircase at the Red Lion; and others
        Dec. 14, 2023

        John Aldridge (1905-1983) Garden view; Dedham House; Morley House; Staircase at the Red Lion; and others

        Est: £600 - £800

        John Aldridge (1905-1983) Garden view; Dedham House; Morley House; Staircase at the Red Lion; and others Six pencil or pen and ink, the first with watercolour, circa 1950s, each with the estate stamp, on wove paper, largest sheet 280 x 315mm (11 x 12 3/8in) (6) This lot is sold subject to Artists Resale Rights, details of which can be found in our Terms and Conditions.

        Forum Auctions - UK
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £300 - £400

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Continental Railway Siding' pen and ink and watercolour 12 x 19.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'Annual Sale', November 2012, cat. no. 125. Condition Report: Framed size 23 x 30cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Very light creasing to sky. Presents well, strong colours.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Harbour scene pen and ink 11 x 17.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, July 2015. Condition Report: Framed size 25 x 30cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Paper appears to be lightly stuck down. Dog eared corners, fold marls to two corners, creasing.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'West Park', 1941 signed with initials, inscribed and dated 'Aug 4 1941' l.l., pen and brown ink with wash 20 x 24.5cm Provenance: Abbott & Holder Ltd., London, from the artist's executor, Ian Tregarthen Jenkins. Condition Report: Framed size 39 x 42.5cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Paper has previously been folded in four. Thin paper, creases throughout.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Via Appia' inscribed and dated '11 Aug ‘57' l.l., pencil 18.5 x 24.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, March 2012. Condition Report: Framed size 32 x 36.5cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Paper light brown in colour. A small stain to l.r. corner.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Newbury' inscribed and dated '1942' l.l., pencil 21 x 22cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, June 2012. Condition Report: Framed size 35 x 34cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Fold marks l.l., light handling creases elsewhere.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £200 - £300

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Giant hogweed and Scots pine in the garden at Place House inscribed ‘Heracleum & pines’ and dated '75' l.l., pencil 27.5 x 21cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, September 2013. Literature: Tony Venison, 'An Artist in the Garden', John Aldridge at Place House, Great Bardfield, Essex, 'Country Life', 17 October 1985, (illustration 4). Condition Report: Framed size 37 x 29.5cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Light creases.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £250 - £350

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Haddington' inscribed with title and dated 'Oct. 7. 24' l.r., pencil and sepia wash 13 x 22cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'Annual Sale', November 2014, Condition Report: Framed size 30.5 x 38cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Good condition.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £300 - £400

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Working in a landscape watercolour 15 x 20cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, April 2014. Condition Report: Framed size 27.5 x 31.5cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Appears to be taped down rather than pasted. Some light foxing and staining to sky.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £250 - £350

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Building in a woodland watercolour heightened with white 29.5 x 22.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'John Aldridge at the R.A.’, September 2013. Condition Report: Framed size 44 x 35.5cm Not viewed out of glazed frame. Appears to be in good condition.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £400 - £600

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) Woodland behind the orchard at Place House watercolour 22 x 28.5cm Provenance: From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale; Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'Annual Sale', November 2013, cat. no. 209.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £500 - £700

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Graz' with artist’s studio stamp, inscribed with title l.l., coloured pastel 27.5 x 33cm Condition Report: Framed: 37 x 43.5cm Light cockling but appears to be in otherwise good condition. Not viewed out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £3,000 - £5,000

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Cathay Quinces and Christmas Roses', 1972 oil on canvas 46 X 55.5cm Provenance: Mr and Mrs Toby Bromley, Ashley Manor, Hants; with the Bourne Gallery, Surrey. Exhibited: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 1972, cat. no. 876. Condition Report: Framed: 70.5 x 80.5cm Light rubbing to the edge but in otherwise apparently good condition. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the deaprtment.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Oct. 17, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £6,000 - £8,000

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'The Moors, Gt Bardfield' signed and dated 'John Aldridge/March 55' l.r., oil on canvas 65 x 80cm This lot includes a 'Great Bardfield Summer Exhibition, 8-17 July 1955' booklet in which the lot offered for sale is illustrated. 'The Art of Acquisition - Great Bardfield Artists' Houses', published by the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 2015, is also included with the lot and this contains a photograph, on page 15, of John Aldridge with the work on an easel in his studio at 'The Place' in Great Bardfield during the 1950s. This painting is of 'The Moors' in Great Bardfield, one of Aldridge's favourite spots to paint. It is also a painting with one of the strongest provenance trails: having been reproduced in black and white in the booklet for the Great Bardfield Summer Exhibition in 1955, there is also a publicity photograph taken by Geoffrey Ireland (in the National Portrait Gallery) of John with this work on the easel. John was born in Woolwich into an upper-class military family. He was schooled at Uppingham, Rutland, before getting a scholarship to Oxford to study Literae Humaniores or 'Greats' at Corpus Christi College, where John Betjeman remembered him by the nickname 'Corpus Aesthete'. It was during his second year that John devoted himself to art and on leaving Oxford went to London. In London he moved in with his university friend, the poet, Norman Cameron, and became better acquainted with Robert Graves and Laura Riding, with Aldridge illustrating dust jackets for their books. In 1931, at the age of twenty-five, John was invited by Ben Nicholson to join and exhibit with the Seven and Five Society alongside Ben and other artists, including Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ivon Hitchens, Christopher Wood, Cedric Morris, Frances Hodgkins, Jessica Dismorr, David Jones, as well as Alfred Wallis. This was followed by many successful exhibitions at the Leicester Galleries and, in 1949, he became a teacher at the Slade School of Art, inspiring many other students to become professional artists. When John Aldridge moved to Great Bardfield in Essex in 1933, he had returned from Mallorca after staying with Robert Graves. The isolation of the island must have been an inspiration to have a simpler life than his time in London. When looking for a home, Cedric Morris had suggested the neighbouring village of Finchingfield as a 'beauty spot' and together with his lover (and later wife), Lucie, John found Place House, a farmhouse that had been considerably extended in the reign of Elizabeth I by one of her sergeants-at-law, William Bendlowes. In the village they formed a friendship with the artists Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. John later had an affair with Ravilious' wife, Tirzah Garwood. John lived in Great Bardfield until his death in 1983, having witnessed the influx of artists to the village in the 1940s and 50s, including Michael Rothenstein, Kenneth Rowntree, George Chapman, Stanley Clifford Smith, Walter Hoyle, Shelia Robinson and her husband, Bernard Cheese. It was also home to their children, the next generation of artists, such as Joanna and Richard Bawden and Chloe Cheese. In 1951, the Great Bardfield artists obtained a grant to open up their homes as exhibition venues as part of the regional events for the Festival of Britain. At such an exhibition the artists wouldn't have to pay galleries any fees and could keep all the money, being able to take commissions or to replace works as soon as they were sold. The event was such a success, it was repeated in 1954 and again in 1955, from where this painting was purchased. Aldridge's work is held in national collections all over the UK and he is championed by the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1954 and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1963. He married twice, Lucie Brown (née Saunders), 1941-1970, and Gretl Cameron (née Bajardi), 1970-1983. We are grateful to Robjn Cantus, of Inexpensive Progress, for his assistance with the above catalogue note. Condition Report: Well presented and ready to hang. Not examined under UV light but appears to be in good condition. For a full report please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £2,000 - £3,000

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) A vase of red and white gladioli oil on board 48.5 x 36.5cm Provenance: Abbott and Holder Ltd., London; the artist's estate via his executor Ian Tregarthen Jenkin. Condition Report: Framed: 58 x 45.5cm Light surface cracks throughout. There is some damage to the board in the upper and lower right corners which appears to have been overpainted. Unexamined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £500 - £800

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Helleborus Lividus' inscribed and dated 'Helleborus Lividus/The Place Garden 1974' l.l., pencil and watercolour 34 x 23cm Provenance: A Fry Art Gallery label to the reverse states 'From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale'. Condition Report: Framed: 45.5 x 33.5cm Paper discolouration with some light spots and speckles of surface dirt. Unexamined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £400 - £600

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'I Will Hurry to the Decontamination Centre' inscribed with title l.c., pencil, pen and ink, and crayon 18.5 x 11cm Provenance: With Abbott and Holder Ltd., London; the artist's executor, Ian Tregarthen Jenkins. Condition Report: Framed: 29.5 x 21.5cm Paper discolouration with some light surface dirt and a small pinhole to the centre of the lower edge. Unexamined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £600 - £800

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Italian Garden' pencil and watercolour 34 x 51cm Provenance: A Fry Art Gallery label to the reverse states 'From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale'. Exhibited: Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'Annual Picture Sale', 2012, catalogue number 124. Condition Report: Framed: 51 x 66.5cm In good condition and well presented. Unexamined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £500 - £800

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Santa Cruz' inscribed and dated 'S Cruz 1931' l.l., pencil and watercolour 18.5 x 25cm Provenance: A Fry Art Gallery label to the reverse states 'From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale'; purchased at the Fry Art Gallery Saffron Walden, 'Ravilious in Essex', Eric Ravilious private view, April 2011. Exhibited: Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'John Aldridge RA', 7 September - 27 October, 2013, catalogue number 7. Condition Report: Framed: 28.5 x 34cm Light crease marks to the upper left and lower right corners with some timestaining and foxing to the upper right corner. Unexamined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £1,000 - £1,500

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Near Saint Remy' oil on board 25 x 30cm Provenance: Abbott & Holder Ltd., London; the artist's executor, Ian Tregarthen Jenkins. Condition Report: Framed: 34.5 x 39.5cm Some light surface scratches with a small red mark to the trees, centre right edge. Unexamined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £350 - £450

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Three Trees' pencil and watercolour 35 x 24.5cm Provenance: A Fry Art Gallery label to the reverse states 'From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale'; purchased by the current owner from the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, in September 2013. Exhibited: Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'John Aldridge RA', 7 September - 27 October, 2013. Condition Report: Framed: 51 x 40cm In generally good overall condition. There are some indistinct pencil notes visible which are believed to be by the hand of the artist. Unexamined out of glazed frame.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £500 - £800

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Working in a Landscape' watercolour 26 x 37.5cm Provenance: A Fry Art Gallery label to the reverse states 'From the artist's studio and estate, and then passed to the Fry Art Gallery in 2010 for sale'; purchased by the current owner from the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, in September 2013. Exhibited: Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden, 'John Aldridge RA', 7 September - 27 October, 2013. Condition Report: Framed: 40 x 51cm Light creasing to the the extreme upper right corner, with a further crease approximately 9cm in length running parallel to the right edge. Uninspected out of glazed frame. Well presented.

        Sworders
      • John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)
        Apr. 25, 2023

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983)

        Est: £4,000 - £6,000

        John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) ▴ John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) 'Hall Meadow, Gt. Bardfield' signed and dated 'John Aldridge 55' l.l., inscribed with title verso, oil on board 47 x 55cm Condition Report: Framed: 60 x 68cm The paint is starting to lift slightly in the extreme lower right corner. There is a very minor loss with possible retouching to the extreme upper right corner. Framed and ready to hang. Unexamined under UV light, for a full report plesae contact the department.

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