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§ Sir Matthew Smith, CBE (British, 1879-1959) Reclining figure, incised on the plinth "Matthew Smith", plaster, 62 x 33 x 34cm (24.5 x 13 x 13.5in); together with a still life of flowers, oil on paper, unframed, 43 x 38cm (17 x 15in) (2) 62 x 33cm (24 x 13in) Provenance: From an Essex country house and acquired by the vendor at auction in Suffolk some years ago Other Notes: Reclining Figure in Plaster by Matthew Smith The English painter, Matthew Smith, 1879-1959, spent much of the period up to the Second World War working in France. Shortly after finishing at the Slade school in 1908, he arrived in Brittany - moving on to Paris in 1910 where he briefly attended the Atelier Matisse. Always a great admirer of Matisse, Smith no doubt had him in mind when he said that he thought painters make better sculptors than sculptors make painters. It was while living in Aix in 1936 that Matthew Smith himself turned his hand to sculpture and produced a small series of nude figures in clay. One of these sculptures, a reclining figure, features in a series of paintings from 1938-39 titled, 'Still Life with Clay Figure I-VI', also produced in Aix. The model for the sculpture was Christiane de Mauberg who was also the inspiration for a whole series of portraits in oils in the mid 1930s. Christiane was the daughter of the landlady of the hotel where Smith was living. The clay was probably modeled from memory. When Smith left France for London in 1941, he entrusted the paintings and the sculptures to various friends in Aix. After the war he returned to France to retrieve the works and the series of paintings called 'Still Life with Clay Figure' formed the core of his one-man show at his London dealer Tooth's in 1947. (One of the Still lifes with Clay Figure is now in the Tate Gallery, London and another is in Southampton Art Gallery.) The original clay figure he left with his friend, the painter Harry Morton Colvile, telling him he could keep it. In 1960 after Smith's death, Morton Colvile decided to have the clay figure cast in bronze at a local foundry. As far as is known, only two casts were made from the mould - one in plaster and one in bronze. The clay figure was presumed destroyed in the process. The bronze is in a private collection. This current lot is the recently discovered plaster casting. John Gledhill, Matthew Smith: A Catalogue Raisonne of the Oil Paintings, pub. Lund Humphries, 2009 We are grateful to John Gledhill for his assistance with the catalogue entry. The figure has been painted grey and is missing one hand. The oil appears to have been cut down. and is unframed. The cast is c.1960. From a clay figure c. 1938.Please note this lot is not signed as it was cast after the artist's death. 

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