Michael Ayrton, British 1921-1975 - Bathers on a Jetty, 1952;...

Michael Ayrton,
British 1921-1975 -

Bathers on a Jetty, 1952;

oil on panel, signed and dated upper left 'Michael Ayrton 52', 25.5 x 35.5 (ARR)

Provenance:
private collection and thence by descent

Note:
This is the first of two oil paintings on a theme which Ayrton had previously been exploring in drawings and watercolour, originally inspired during his travels in Italy by seeing small boys swimming off the bridges and piers of Venice and Naples. This painting and 'Bathers on a Jetty II' (private collection) were the only oil paintings made, but the theme continued into his sculpture in 1954 with 'The Indomitable Bather' (a small plaster which was never cast) and was fully realised later in 1955 with the bronze 'Figures on a Jetty'.

With thanks to Justine Hopkins for her assistance in the cataloguing of this work.