About this lot

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§ Hugh Mackinnon (British, b.1925) Betty with Cushion oil on board 50.50 x 40.50cm (20 x 16in) Other Notes: Mackinnon obtained a scholarship to Alleyne Grammar School in Stevenage and later enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art. Initially, Mackinnon was influenced by European abstraction and Bauhaus, particularly by the works of Mondrian and Klee. However, by the time of his first solo show at the Gimpel Fils Gallery in 1952 his work had taken on the simplified realism characteristic of his later style. This likely stemmed from Mackinnon's final years at the Slade, where Leo Schlesinger, a German-Jewish refugee, introduced him to stylised Indian sculpture and Russian icons. These primitive influences are readily apparent in the curvilinear forms of 'Betty with a Cushion'. Mackinnon was known to have painted portraits of Betty on at least two other occasions - one of which is now part of the British Arts Council collection. Mackinnon's work has been exhibited at the Holland Park Gallery, the Ash Barn Gallery, and Campbell and Franks, and has received greater recognition in the wake of his 2006 retrospective at the Millinery Works Gallery. Creasing to the original page in some areas, the longest of which extends across the whole width of the page. Additional creasing below the figure's left hand and further surface abrasion that has led to loss of paint around the back of the head and shoulder.

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