Lot 15

In overall good condition. No visible tears or holes to the paper. The sheet doesn't sit completely flat suggesting that it is not laid down. This work has not been inspected outside of its frame.
Overall framed size 50 x 46cm


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Private collection, Sydney

The interwar years saw the establishment of many new ideas and artistic movements, including the introduction of linocut printing. Lill Tschudi (1911-2001), at the age of 18 enrolled in the Grosvenor School in London with a keen interest in printmaking. Working under Claude Flight, an innovative artist and teacher who gathered a large following among the art world and his students, pioneered the linocut at the Grosvenor School (1926-1930).
Inspired by the Italian Futurists and Vorticism, his distinctive style captured the speed and energy of the modern world using this newfound medium. Flight's encouragement and teachings offered his students the opportunity to take complete control of their creative practice, marking a new movement in art and exciting young and emerging artists.
While Tschudi was only there for a short period, she quickly established her practice. Creating mechanical-like subjects on her blocks, Tschudi layered her work with recurring images to create a wave of movement throughout the paper. Heavily inspired by industrial scenes, nightlife, circus scenes, public transport and outdoor events, she depicted themes that were unfolding in front of her in everyday life. This subject matter was virtually untouched by female artists until this point, symbolising the progress of the 20th century and the developing modern age
In a restrained palette of blue hues, chestnut and yellow, Tschudi intersects waves of bold form, presenting Schiffe 1951 - Venice on the move. Idyll gondoliers slice through the foreground revealing workers tending to their boats preparing for their next passengers. Waiting to board, a distracted flock of tourists, marvelling at the sheer scale of the ship approaching St Pauls Square.
Embodying the Claude Flight concept of movement and form, Tschudi depicts a layered scene, one moment eliding into the next, which in turn merges with the next. Tschudi effectively draws the eye progressively out to the ship in the background using size and form rather than tonal depth, achieving equal pictorial importance to both the lively foreground, mid and background.

Lill Tschudi became one of the most recognised exponents of the infamous Grosvenor School, creating 355 linocuts in her lifetime. She left a striking impression of the vitality and spirit of life during the interwar years. These works are treasured in many public collections including the British Museum, National Gallery of Australia and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lill Tschudi was also awarded a National Print Prize in Switzerland for her lifetime achievement for the arts.
Lucy Foster
Art Specialist

RELATED WORK:
Venetian Canal, pencil, watercolour and gouache on sketchbook wove paper, 27 x 28.5cm, Christies, London, 5 December 2012, lot 266