Lot 36: RONALD GRAY

1868-1951 THE METROPOLITAN OBSERVATION ROOM DURING AN AIR RAID signed and dated l.r.: RONALD GRAY 1918 oil on canvas 63.5 by 74cm., 25 by 29in.

Royal Academy, 1919, no.551

Two similar paintings by Ronald Gray are known; Kings Cross Anti -Aircraft Gun in Action and Evening Quarters: The Look-out at Cannon Street Anti-Aircraft Station both painted in 1917 and at the Imperial War Museum, London. The present picture was his first Royal Academy exhibit and the only example of this type – his other six exhibits were portraits. It depicts the Observation Room at County Hall in London and is an important historical document of a scene that would have been witnessed by very few people.