Oil Painting thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Oil Painting

ca. 1932 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Rex Whistler (1905-1944) painted this panel to replace a missing section of a chinoiserie wallpaper bought by Mr Samuel Courtauld at Bath. The empty frame was designed to contain Picasso's picture L'enfant au Pigeon. There is a strip of the original 19th-century chinoiserie wallpaper in the collection (P.13A-1977).

Whistler was a noted painter of murals, as well as a book-illustrator and stage-designer. Perhaps his best known murals are those in the restaurant of Tate Britain.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Portion of a wall-paper in the chinoiserie style, with a picture frame as its central motif, painted to house Picasso's "L'Enfant au Pigeon"; Oil on canvas; Rex Whistler; From above the chimney-piece of a bedroom in No.12, North Audley Street, London; England; 1932.
Physical description
Portion of a wallpaper in the Chinoiserie style, with a picture frame as its central motif, painted to house Picasso's 'L'Enfant au Pigeon'; Oil on canvas; Signed and dated Rex Whistler 1932.
Dimensions
  • Approx. height: 182.9cm
  • Approx. width: 155cm
  • Frame height: 2102mm
  • Frame width: 1633mm
  • Frame depth: 73mm
Dimensions from: Oman, Charles C. and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: a history and illustrated catalogue of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sotheby Publications, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982.
Marks and inscriptions
'Rex Whistler 1932' (Signed and dated.)
Credit line
Given by an anonymous donor
Object history
From above a chimney-piece of a bedroom in No. 12 North Audley Street, London. Given by an anonymous donor, 1977.
The artist has provided this missing section of a chinoiserie wallpaper, bought by Mr Samuel Courtauld at Bath. A similar work was executed by the artist on the walls of a room at 39, Preston Park Avenue, Brighton, a month before he was killed. A strip of the original 19th century chinoiserie wallpaper is P.13A-1977.
Production
Provenance: Above the chimneypiece of a bedroom in 12, North Audley Street, London
Subjects depicted
Summary
Rex Whistler (1905-1944) painted this panel to replace a missing section of a chinoiserie wallpaper bought by Mr Samuel Courtauld at Bath. The empty frame was designed to contain Picasso's picture L'enfant au Pigeon. There is a strip of the original 19th-century chinoiserie wallpaper in the collection (P.13A-1977).

Whistler was a noted painter of murals, as well as a book-illustrator and stage-designer. Perhaps his best known murals are those in the restaurant of Tate Britain.
Associated object
P.13A-1977 (Original)
Bibliographic references
  • Calloway, Stephen, Rex Whistler: the triumph of fancy, Brighton, Royal Pavilion, Libraries & Museums, 2006
  • Oman, Charles C. and Hamilton, Jean. Wallpapers: a history and illustrated catalogue of the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Sotheby Publications, in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1982.
Collection
Accession number
P.13-1977

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Record createdMay 25, 2006
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