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Oakham Fine Art

British and European Fine Art

James Lawrence Isherwood - Guards Band London

20th Century Paintings

Original 20th Century Artwork in Oil, Watercolour, Pen and Ink and other Mixed Media.

20th Century Paintings Online Art Gallery

The 20th Century represents a revolutionary period in the history of art, where innumerable movements came in and out of fashion. Fauvism the French style of "the wild beasts" where strong colours came to the fore, Futurism the Italian style with a dynamism that reflected the “modern world”. Cubism, where Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque etc., brought different views of subjects together resulting in abstract paintings. The satire of Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art, Minimalism, Photorealism, etc., the list is endless.

Oakham Fine Art has a collection of outstanding and unique 20th Century paintings including rare works by the "5th Beatle" Stuart Sutcliffe and Jack Vettriano's very first painting Monet's Poppy Fields. Please click on the thumbnail images below to see the details and expanded image of each of the artworks.

If you would like further information on any of our artworks, or you are interested in purchasing any of the pictures and you require additional images then please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to provide these on request.

Pricing is available on request by selecting one of the artwork thumbnails and clicking ENQUIRE

20th Century Paintings for Sale

Pink Rain, Guards Band, Buckingham Palace - James Lawrence Isherwood (1917 – 1989)

REF: 5049
Medium - Oil on board
Size - 14" x 22½" (36cm x 57cm)
Recto – Signed and dated 73

Verso - Inscribed “Pink Rain Guards Band Buckingham Palace 95 GNS”
Isherwood has also added his trademark X (cross) which when asked why he did it, he replied “It means ‘God help me!’”

PROVENANCE
The artwork was authenticated by Molly Isherwood on behalf of the Isherwood estate in July 2002.

Condition – Very Good. There is a repaired 5” crack that runs vertically from one of the guard’s shoulders to the top edge of the painting. This is only visible under close inspection and is not distinguishable when this stunning painting is hung.

Woman in Clogs and Shawl, Wigan - James Lawrence Isherwood (1917 – 1989)

REF: 5050
Medium - Oil on board
Size - 23½" x 17" (60cm x 43cm)
Recto - Signed and dated 67

Verso - Inscribed “Woman in Clogs and Shawl, Wigan” Isherwood has also added his trademark X (cross) which when asked why he did it, he replied “It means ‘God help me!’”

PROVENANCE
The artwork was authenticated by Molly Isherwood on behalf of the Isherwood estate in July 2002.

Condition - Excellent

Monet's Poppy Fields - Jack Vettriano (1951 - )

REF: 5048
Medium - Oil on canvas board
Size - 11½" x 14" (29cm x 36cm)
Recto - Signed “Hoggan”

PROVENANCE
Bonhams Scotland and the Portland Art Gallery.

Jack Vettriano’s Poppy Fields is probably his most famous artwork after The Singing Butler. Read any article on Vettriano and you will always hear mention of his first painting being a “Copy” of Claude Monet’s Poppy Fields.

Jack Vettriano was talking about his life and work at The Cheltenham Literary Festival in October 2004. Vettriano was asked, when did it occur to him to start painting? To which he replied:
"It didn't actually occur to me, it occurred to a girl I was seeing when I was 21 after she saw some drawings I'd done. She got me a box of paints and told me I should try and colour those [drawings] in! Later I thought 'right, I'm going to be a real artist' and I went out and bought one of those boxes with six tubes of paint, three brushes, a palette to work on, and I taught myself.

I went to the local library and there wasn't a lot [of art books] there - just a few impressionists and some of the Italian masters. I just decided that the only real way was to just copy what was done [in those books]. I started off with Monet's Poppy Fields."

Jack Vettriano’s reimagining of Monet’s Poppy Fields was originally in the possession of his former wife. Vettriano’s wife gave the painting to a friend, long before Vettriano was well known and the painting was subsequently kept underneath the friend’s “sofa”. The painting came onto the open market in 2005, after The Singing Butler’s record sale’s amount of three quarters of a million pounds hit the headlines, when the friend realised that the painting may have some value.

The sale of the painting will be accompanied by a letter from Bonhams Scotland confirming the authenticity and provenance of the painting.

Condition – Excellent. Light paint restoration in small isolated areas.

The Beatles Tree (A Side) - Stuart Sutcliffe (1940 - 1962)

REF: 5065A
5065A and 5065B are one item as the artworks are recto and verso.

Medium - Watercolour and Ink on Paper
Size - 4½" x 7" (12cm x 18cm)

Two original ink and watercolour artworks on both sides of a page removed from Stuart Sutcliffe's Liverpool Art School examination notebook from 1960. The piece includes caricatures of members of The Beatles “hidden” within the branches of the tree. Read the Stuart Sutcliffe bio section for further information.

The artworks were the property of the Sutcliffe Estate and sold at Sothebys, London in September 1999. The artworks are also included in the “Stuart” limited edition book that is available for purchase from ourselves in conjunction with this artwork.

Condition: Excellent. There is a small tear near the top of the artwork likely to have been caused by Stuart himself as he pressed his pen firmly against the paper. This does not detract at all from the artwork rather it adds to the story.

The Beatles Tree (B Side) - Stuart Sutcliffe (1940 - 1962)

REF: 5065B
5065B and 5065A are one item as the artworks are recto and verso.

Medium - Watercolour and Ink on Paper
Size - 4½" x 7" (12cm x 18cm)

Two original ink and watercolour artworks on both sides of a page removed from Stuart Sutcliffe's Liverpool Art School examination notebook from 1960. The artworks were the property of the Sutcliffe Estate and sold at Sothebys, London in September 1999. The artworks are also included in the “Stuart” limited edition book that is available for purchase from ourselves in conjunction with this artwork.

Condition: Excellent. There is a small tear near the top of the artwork likely to have been caused by Stuart himself as he pressed his pen firmly against the paper. This does not detract at all from the artwork rather it adds to the story.

Wigan - James Lawrence Isherwood (1917 – 1989)

REF: 5051
Medium - Oil on board
Size - 19½" x 27½" (50cm x 70cm)
Recto - Signed

Verso - Inscribed “Wigan” Isherwood has also added his trademark X (cross) which when asked why he did it, he replied “It means ‘God help me!’”

PROVENANCE
The artwork was authenticated by Molly Isherwood on behalf of the Isherwood estate in July 2002.

Condition - Excellent

Turf Fields with the Mountains Beyond - Paul Henry (1876 – 1958)

REF: 5053
Medium – Colour collotype on paper
Size - 16½" x 19" (42cm x 48cm)
Recto – Signed in pencil in the bottom right margin. Fine Art Guild publisher’s stamp on the bottom left margin. Copyright W.J. Stacey, London.

PROVENANCE
Rare Artist’s Signed Proof edition. Date of approval 1938
Limited Edition of 200 prints - Titled “A Showery Day”
Lots Road Auction Rooms

Condition – Very Good. One very small pin hole within the image

Kibworth, Leicestershire - John Kenney (1911 – 1972)

REF: 5056
Medium - Oil on canvas board
Size - 17" x 21½" (43cm x 55cm)
Recto – Signed J.T. Kenney 47.

Verso - Inscribed “M.E.M. B/S” 17 4/47” “With best wishes from the Battys” “May every sound become a song and all be right and nothing wrong!”

PROVENANCE
Purchased from a private collection.
The subject of the painting is John’s home town of Kibworth in Leicestershire, England. The primary focus of the painting is of St Wilfrid’s Church viewed from approximately 12 Church Road.

Condition - Excellent