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Ithell Colquhoun (British, 1906-1988) Desert Menace 41.7 x 42.5 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.) image 1
Ithell Colquhoun (British, 1906-1988) Desert Menace 41.7 x 42.5 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.) image 2
Ithell Colquhoun (British, 1906-1988) Desert Menace 41.7 x 42.5 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.) image 3
Lot 33AR

Ithell Colquhoun
(British, 1906-1988)
Desert Menace 41.7 x 42.5 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.)

Ending from 1 May 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, New Bond Street

£6,000 - £8,000

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Ithell Colquhoun (British, 1906-1988)

Desert Menace
signed with monogram and dated '74' (lower left); further signed and titled 'ITHELL COLQUHOUN/DESERT MENACE' (verso)
enamel on board
41.7 x 42.5 cm. (16 1/2 x 16 3/4 in.)

Footnotes

Provenance
Sale; Sotheby's, Ithell Colquhoun Studio Sale, London, 24 April 1985, lot 554
Sale; Sotheby's, London, 16 January 1986, lot 13

Exhibited
Penzance, Newlyn Gallery, 1974, cat.no.83

Literature
Richard Shillitoe, Ithell Colquhoun: Magician Born of Nature, 2009, cat.no.754, p.379

Many of Colquhoun's paintings attest to her interest in wild, marginal places, such as deserts or the seashore: primeval locations where nature stands untamed. It is a theme she returned to throughout her life. Desert Menace is a barren, timeless space where the nature of the menace is unstated: Colquhoun merely presents a landscape upon which, like a stage set or backdrop, viewers like the shadowy observer on the rocky outcrop, can project their own fantasies and fears.

We are grateful to Dr Richard Shillitoe for compiling this catalogue entry.

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