Charles R. Gerrard ARA (British, b. 1892)
Still Life
oil on canvas
70.5 x 82 cm.
Footnotes:
Provenance
Family of the artist.
Christie's South Kensington, 1998 or 1999.
Caelt Gallery, 182 Westbourne Grove, London W11 (label on stretcher).
Private UK collection.

The present lot demonstrates that Gerrard had his eye on both British painting such as that of Sir Matthew Smith (1879-1959), whose still life compositions it most strikingly resembles, and on Expressionist circles in Europe. A review in The Times of India of an exhibition of Gerrard's paintings at the Sir J. J. in November 1940 observed that it encompassed Impressionist and post-Impressionist styles as well as those of 'solid academic traditions'. Bakre, paying tribute to his direct influence on his own work, was later to comment on Gerrard's skill as a draughtsman, and his use of 'sharp, hot colours'.