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A cache of original works by the artist Prunella Clough (1919-99) comes for sale at Sworders Modern and Contemporary Art sale in Essex this spring. The 18 lots in a range of different media form part of the estate collection of antique dealer Christopher Bangs (1951-2022).
Clough, a celebrated painter of Modern Brtish art, and Bangs, a specialist in medieval and later metalware, had first met when in 1972 when he was young gallery manager at the New Art Centre in Sloane Street and she was the subject of a forthcoming solo exhibition. They formed not just a good working relationship, but also a deep friendship. For more than two decades, Bangs was a frequent visitor to Clough’s homes in Fulham, first in Moore Park Road and then at Salisbury House in Sherbrooke Road. Together they purchased a derelict former drayhorse stable block next door that in 1996 was transformed into The Triangle, Bangs’ private gallery for his holdings of early metalware. Clough, who maintained a lively interest in his work, ultimately bequeathed the house and studio to Bangs when she died.
Many of the works Sworders will offer on April 9 were personal gifts between close friends.
They cover Clough’s career from the early 1950s until late 1990s with estimates ranging from £200-£300 to £5,000-£7,000. Among the highlights is Past Event, the large scale 1976 oil and brick dust on canvas that was painted by Clough after she experienced a gust of wind blowing through a disused warehouse in the London Docklands. A work exhibited by the London Arts Council, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and the Serpentine Gallery, London, it has expectations of £3,000-5,000.
Clough’s 1961 oil on board Mining Landscape is estimated at £3,000-5,000 while a 1950 collage of oil paint and balsa wood on softboard titled Dancer is expected to bring £5,000-7,000. A series of more modest pen and ink, watercolour and gouache sketches begin at £200-300 for Satellite Shot, a signed work from 1979 measuring just 6 x 6.5cm.
