MARY FEDDEN. THE STRIPED GLOVE. 1984. FOR SALE

Oil painting by Mary Fedden with a black cat next to a desk, striped glove, Charlotte's glove, eggs and a bowl of irises

MARY FEDDEN ARTWORK FOR SALE. “THE STRIPED GLOVE”. 1984.

FOR SALE

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Image size (excluding frame): 20” x 24” / 50cm x 60cm

Size (including frame): 25″ x 29″ / 62c.5m x 72.5cm

Medium: Oil on canvas

Signed and dated: “Fedden 1984” plus label on reverse in Mary Fedden’s own hand “Mary Fedden The Striped Glove”

Framing: Mary Fedden’s original wood frame

Provenance: Bought by the previous owner at New Grafton Gallery in May 1984 for £380

Price: on request

MARY FEDDEN ARTWORK FOR SALE. “BOWL OF EGGS”. 1988.

Mary Fedden was a British artist whose finely executed paintings often took the form of a hybrid between a still life of everyday objects (usually in the foreground) and a landscape (used as the backdrop). As in this painting, she would typically bring together a carefully orchestrated group of her favourite possessions such as her striped glove, a beautifully decorated jug (this particular one Mary always referred to as ‘Charlotte’s jug’), a group of her ubiquitous speckled eggs and a vase of dramatic black irises, bottles. All these are placed in front of a contrasting grey wall and view through a small window to the landscape beyond. Over the years she became best known for these bold, vivid still lifes and her colourful views of France, Tuscany and North Africa. This large oil painting, The Striped Glove, is a fine example of such works. But this painting has one major advantage over most of Mary’s paintings… the presence of one of her beloved cats, in this case a black cat, probably Lulu. Fedden collectors are mad keen for her cats and they are much in demand as a result. Mary’s biographer, Christopher Andreae, wrote about the cats as “statuesque and commanding, almost frozen as if they are pretending to be part of the still life.” I think we can see what he means in this painting.

In his book Mary Fedden Enigmas and Variations, Christopher Andreae writes about Mary’s masterful use of colour and tone: “Mary Fedden’s compositional balancing of solid and space, air and object, allows for a rich play of colour, but her colour too is ordered and balanced. She often says how much she dislikes too many colours in a painting. She prefers one dominant colour – red, blue, black or grey – like a key in a piece of music. Everything else must harmonise with this dominant colour, which is a kind of surround. But then some small part of the painting might punctuate this main colour with a vivid contrasting hue.” Mary Fedden’s wonderful control over the colour palette is beautifully demonstrated in The Striped Glove.

The Striped Glove is in excellent, clean, unrestored condition.