IMAGE USED IN CLASSIC BRITISH ANTI-WAR FILM - 'OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR' - FOR SALE AT BONHAMS

 EXCEPTIONALLY RARE PRINT NEVER SEEN AT AUCTION ALSO STARS

In its first major Prints auction since the record sale of Edvard Munch’s ‘Madonna’ for £1,252,000 in July, Bonhams is featuring a dramatic image by the renowned First World War artist, C. R.W. Nevinson, which was recreated in the classic anti-war film “Oh What a Lovely War.”

‘Nerves of An Army’, from 1918, is archetypal Nevinson. It shows four soldiers perched at the top of a telegraph pole, the angles of the men’s bodies juxtaposed with the pole’s cross struts and the communication lines they are mending.   So stark is this image that Richard Attenborough used it in his directorial debut film, the classic, ‘Oh What A Lovely War’.  “Certain images in my movies have been directly influenced by art,” he said. “Nevinson’s etching of four soldiers up a telegraph pole during the First World War is painstakingly recreated in my first film as a director.”  It is estimated at £12,000-18,000.

In strong contrast to Nevinson’s war themed work is “The Wave”, a beautiful and powerful evocation of the sea.  This exceptionally rare print from 1917 has never been offered at auction before and is estimated at £20,000-30,000.

A further piece from the war years, the dramatic lithographic poster, “Now Back the Bayonets” with its jagged brutalism is priced at £8,000-10,000.

In the immediate post war years Nevinson’s work became softer and more rounded in style as seen in two works from that period, ‘From a Paris Window’, 1920-1, (estimate £800-1,200) and‘Sunday Evening’, 1924, (estimate £600-900).  Here the robotic inhumanity of war has been replaced by a vision of peace and harmony.

Nevinson (1899-1946) was heavily influenced by Italian Futurism and his creative response to the First World War, in which he served briefly in the Royal Army Medical Corps, used Futurist techniques to great effect.   His era-defining image, ‘La Mitrailleuse’, now in the Tate Collection also came to define his artistic legacy. 

Bonhams

Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further five throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Carmel, New York and Boston in the USA; Toronto, Canada; and France, Monaco, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas. By the end of 2009, Bonhams had become UK market leaders in ten key specialist collecting areas. For a full listing of upcoming sales, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, go to www.bonhams.com