Oil on board
h17 x w22cm (unframed)
h36 x w42cm (framed)

Peggy Somerville (1918 – 1975) born Margaret Scott Somerville, was a child prodigy who learned to paint at the same time she learned to talk. When she was three some of her watercolours were selected for an exhibition held by the Royal Society of Drawing. At the age of seven one of her paintings, Happy Days by the Sea, was exhibited at the New Irish Salon in Dublin, having been chosen on merit by judges who knew nothing of her age. Her first one-woman ‘retrospective’ was held when she was nine at the Claridge Gallery in London. She was hailed as a child genius by newspapers throughout Britain and as far away as Boston, and, in a matter of days, each one of the hundred paintings on show had sold. Yet despite her fame she was a very private person and after studying at the Royal Academy Schools for just a few months she gave up formal study and became a Land Girl. While in many ways she can be seen as continuing the tradition from Gainsborough, through Constable and Thomas Churchyard, to Wilson Steer, she was also deeply indebted to the French Impressionists, especially Bonnard. From 1964 until her early death she lived and worked in Suffolk painting vigorous oils, watercolours and pastels. Somerville is now recognised as one of the most interesting of the later British Impressionists.

Seller Price £2,200
Comparative Gallery Price: £2,500