Sycamore Leaf
Rita Kernn-Larsen (Hillerød 1904 - Copenhagen 1998)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1939
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
419 x 393 x 28 mm
Place of origin
Denmark
Order this imageCollection
2 Willow Road, London
NT 112732
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Sycamore Leaf by Rita Kernn-Larsen (Hillerod, Denmark 1904-1998), 1939 Depicting a brown variegated sycamore leaf growing out of a brown landscape with white figures on a vibrant blue sky. Within a white stained pine frame.
Full description
The first impression of this painting is of a life-scale study of a sycamore leaf. Closer inspection reveals an uncanny landscape and the Surrealist approach of the artist, Rita Kernn-Larsen. The leaf is also a tree, dominating a low horizon while the light of a scarlet sun or moon meanders along the ground like a river. To the right, two white figures (or one figure with two heads) seem to hail this leaf-tree and astral body as their long tendril-like arms spiral downwards. Kernn-Larsen had been painting dreamlike landscapes for five years by the time she produced ‘Sycamore Leaf’, having turned to Surrealism in 1934. She had exhibited internationally, including at the International Surrealist Exhibition in 1936 and at a solo show organised by Peggy Guggenheim in 1938, both in London. Born in Denmark and initially schooled as an artist in Scandinavia, Kernn-Larsen may initially have encountered Ernö and Ursula Goldfinger while studying in Paris in 1929 to 1933. They certainly knew each other in wartime London where she had moved in about 1938 with her husband, the Austrian-Jewish art dealer, Isak Grünberg, fleeing Fascism in Europe. In 1942 they were recorded as living on Downshire Hill in Hampstead, a short walk from 2 Willow Road. This painting may be identifiable with a picture called ‘Winter Tree’ that Kernn-Larsen contributed to a selling exhibition of modern art held by the Goldfingers at 2 Willow Road in June 1942 to raise money for the 'Aid to Russia' Fund of the National Council of Labour under the auspices of the Association of Architects, Surveyors and Technical Assistants. They bought other works, including ‘Head’ (112757) and ‘Standing Figures’ (112455) by Henry Moore at the exhibition. Kernn-Larsen also exhibited works with the titles, 'La Promenade Dangereuse' and 'Aladdin'. (John Chu 2025)
Provenance
Possibly purchased by Ernö Goldfinger and Ursula Ruth Blackwell, also known as Mrs Ernö Goldfinger, at the "Aid to Russia" exhibition held at 2 Willow Road in 1942. Purchased by the National Trust in 1994.
Credit line
2 Willow Road, The Ernö Goldfinger Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
Bottom right hand corner: "r k l" On right hand rear stretcher.: "Kernn-Larsen, Rita 1, rue Rimi / Pauline (6e)" On rear right hand stretcher.: "JAMES BOURLET & SONS, Ltd., / Fine Art packers, Frame makers, / B40638 / 17 & 18, NASSAU STREET, / MORTIMER STREET, W. / Phones:- MUSEUM 1871 & 7588"
Makers and roles
Rita Kernn-Larsen (Hillerød 1904 - Copenhagen 1998), artist