Works by Husband and Wife Artists Who Fell in Love with Suffolk Coast to be Sold
A collection of paintings by the devoted husband and wife artists, Lionel Bulmer and Margaret Green are to feature in the Modern Pictures auction at Bonhams, Knightsbridge on 23rd March at 2pm. The 60 works for sale form an interesting cross section of the work from the studio of both artists and are expected to fetch around £40,000 in total.
Margaret Green (1925-2003) and Lionel Bulmer (1919-1992) met whilst studying at the Royal College of Arts in London, and from this point onwards their personal and artistic lives remained closely entwined. Together they develop a realism with social connotations, and their early work was heavily influenced by the notions of the commonplace and everyday. An example is ‘Two Rooms’ by Lionel Bulmer estimated at £2,000-£3,000.
From the 1950s they were based in their rural retreat outside Stowmarket, where they continued their stand against abstraction – the style that was becoming more popular amongst other artists of the time. They spent much time working together along the Suffolk coast, and the area provided much inspiration for their art. They often painted with friends and New English Art Club members Fred Dubery, William Bowyer and Margaret Thomas. Green regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and has been described as “one of the more consistently interesting and perceptive figurative painters of her generation,” and it is the Suffolk landscape that is most closely associated with her art. An example of this sale is ‘Sunset in Suffolk,’ estimate £500-700.
Later in life Bulmer began to alter his artistic style, reworking the pointillism of Georges Seurat. He changed his palette and began to use colours which captured the brilliance of their life on the beach in Suffolk, and the dazzling summer sunshine. For example ‘Dunes, Southwold’ estimate £800-1,200.
Emma Corke, of Bonhams Modern Pictures Department comments, “Bonhams are delighted to be selling this large collection from the artist’s estate. The sale contains an interesting cross section of work and provides an opportunity to buy examples from their vibrant East Anglian period for whish they were best known.”
www.bonhams.com/knightsbridgepictures
Image: Lot No: 143
Lionel Bulmer (British, 1919-1992)
Dunes, Southwold
signed ‘L Bulmer’ (lower left), oil on linen laid to board
76 x 101cm (29 15/16 x 39 3/4in).unframed
Estimate: £800 – 1,200
