Patrick Fergusson Millard (1902-1977)
A comfy lurcher, 1929
signed and dated 'PF Millard 29' (lower right)
oil on canvas
20 â…› x 24 â…› in. (51.1 x 61.3 cm.)
with frame 23 ¼ x 27 ¼ in. (59 x 69.2 cm.)
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£11500
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Please note that Artist's Resale Right of 4% is applicable to the price.
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A comfy lurcher was painted in 1929, around the time Millard was teaching at Richmond School of Art and sharing a studio with John Piper.​​​
Deeply engaged with the British art world, Millard was particularly active within the progressive circles of the 1930s and 1940s. As joint head of St John’s Wood Art School from around 1930, he fostered an environment of experimentation, inviting figures such as Vanessa Bell to lecture to his students. Among his pupils were Michael Ayrton and John Minton, the latter of whom painted his portrait.
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With sensitivity to subject, the atmosphere, palette, and textured impasto echo the interiors of Charleston, where Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were producing similarly intimate domestic scenes; indeed, Grant owned a lurcher, called 'Henry'. Millard's canvas would be well-suited to hanging on a wall in the farmhouse, the wicker chair, comfy rug and vase embodying the warmth and intimacy central to so many artworks produced there.​
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A painter, draughtsman, and influential teacher, Millard bridged British Romanticism and Modernism, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the New English Art Club, and The London Group. Born in Cumberland in 1902, he studied at the Royal Academy Schools under Charles Sims and Ernest Jackson, winning the Gold Medal and Travelling Scholarship. Encouraged by Walter Sickert, he absorbed the influences of El Greco, Samuel Palmer, and the European avant-garde.
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For further information on this painting, please email info@tomroothfineart.com
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