30. Raymond Mason O.B.E. (1922-2010) Portrait of Joy, oil on canvas, signed lower right and again verso, 91.5 x 71cm. (36 x 28 in).
Provenance: the sitter's daughter.
Raymond Mason was born in Birmingham and, in 1937, won a scholarship to the Birmingham College of Art and Crafts, where he met and fell in love with fellow student, Joy Reid. She was also from Birmingham, their family ties being strengthened by a common Scottish ancestry. Their courtship was interrupted when Mason enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1939, but resumed briefly when he was invalided out in 1941. This intimate and tender portrait is believed to date from this period, as is that of the sitter's father (see the following lot). Mason soon left Birmingham again, this time for the Royal College of Art, before being evacuated to Oxford, where he met Eduardo Paolozzi and had his first introduction to sculpture. He later met Henry Moore whilst studying at the Slade, before visiting Paris in 1946, only to remain there for the rest of his life, where he mixed with numerous artists, most notably fellow sculptor Alberto Giacometti.
est. £1000 – £1500