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A GROUP OF WORKS BY PETER SAMUELSON (LOTS 39-46) PETER SAMUELSON (1912-1996) Perry Court oil on board, unframed signed and dated 'PETER SAMUELSON 38.' (on the reverse) 20 1/2 x 28 in. (52 x 71.2 cm.) The White Heart Pub painted verso.  Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner.  Perry Court, nestled in the valley dominated by the old Roman road to London, with the Nailbourne stream nearby, which curiously flooded once every seven years, was Peter Samuelson's childhood home which he loved, hating to leave it for boarding school and eventually Eton, from which he all but ran away. He ended up in the south of France, where he joined Diaghilev's Ballet Russe which is where he learnt to draw; quickly and fluidly. He was a natural draftsman. He returned to Kent, where he lived with his wife Oona, who eventually reported him to the police for homosexuality, and subsequently lived in a large house in Earls Court which he filled with lodgers whose portraits he famously painted. "Still Life & Fantasy" are works done in response to individual pieces of music which he heard in rehearsal while drawing some of the most distinguished musicians at the Dutch Radio Orchestra - was a special exhibition in 1996 at Eton College's Brewhouse Gallery where some of these works featured, and which show his highly individualistic style and imagination (including mirror-writing and his pseudonym signature "Pierre").  The famous White Heart, just inside the ancient city walls of Canterbury is almost the same as in 1938 when this picture was painted, but the tension in Samuelson's rendition - echoing the tension of his own changing relationships - in a world about to change significantly, is less apparent today.  Lots 39-46 are beautiful examples of the amazing fluidity, with which Samuelson captures the essence of his subjects. Artist's Resale Right may apply to this lot.