Flower Piece

Location

Country: Korea, Republic of (South Korea)
City: Seoul
Place: British Embassy

Keith Stuart Baynes’ floral still life is painted in a lively expressionist style. He uses strong black outlines to delineate the vase and shapes of the flowers, while the bright flashes of yellow, pink and red petals stand out against a draped cloth of subdued colours. Although different in mood and tone, it naturally complements Elizabeth Jane Lloyd’s still life, Autumn Bunch, also shown in this room. Much of Baynes’ work is distinctive for its atmospheric, and at times brooding, handling of light and shade. He was interested in accentuating the surface patterns and detail of a painting, which he achieved through his skilful handling of paint and experimentation with colour.

Born in Reigate, Surrey, Keith Stuart Baynes was educated at Harrow School and the University of Cambridge. He lived in France at the beginning of the twentieth century during which time he visited Holland and saw work by Van Gogh for the first time. This and examples of other modern European art, inspired him to enrol to study at the Slade School of Art (1912–14), when he returned to London. During the First World War, Baynes became acquainted with the English painter W.S. Sickert and later associated with the circle of artists influenced by the critic and painter, Roger Fry, best known for his organisation of the first exhibitions of French Post-Impressionism in London. These were an impetus for many British artists including David Bomberg and William Roberts, contemporaries of Baynes at the Slade. Baynes also exhibited alongside Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, of the Bloomsbury Group. He travelled extensively around Europe for most of his life, painting landscapes and views particularly in England, France and Portugal.

Places

Subjects

vase (as Subject), still life, foliage, petal, flower, table (as Subject)

Materials & Techniques

canvas, oil, oil painting

Artist

Keith Stuart Baynes (1887 - 1977)

Title

Flower Piece

Date

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

height: 61.50 cm, width: 51.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Piccadilly Gallery, February 1959

Inscription

br: K Baynes

GAC number

4883