Alfred Wallis (British, 1855-1942)
Pier with Boats and Fish
signed 'A.WALLIS' (upper right)
oil and pencil on card
23.8 x 30.5 cm. (9 3/8 x 12 in.)
Footnotes:
Provenance
Sven Berlin, from whom acquired by
Elizabeth Leach (Bernard Leach's daughter-in-law), thence by family descent to the present owner
Private Collection, U.K.

The present work depicts the mouth of a busy harbour (perhaps Newlyn or Penzance) with one pier clearly visible centre right and the second detailed along the lower right edge. The composition is alive with activity, four vessels navigate the green/grey sea and a further three nestle safely in the calm of the dock. In the middle of the inner harbour a small rowboat can be seen moored to a buoy, dwarfed by a nearby fish, which in typical Wallis fashion is almost the same size as the lighthouse. These oversized fish and dolphins populate a number of his works, swimming alongside ships, hiding underneath them or simply being imagined below the surface. On one occasion the artist was known to have described the fish as representing the souls of the boats and another time remarked 'See that fish? That fish stands for all the fish that have ever swum – for all the fish that God ever put in the sea; that's why it's so big and powerful' (Exh.cat., Two Painters, Works by Alfred Wallis and James Dixon, Merrell Holberton, London, 1999, p.112).

The present, preceding and following lots enjoy distinguished provenance having been in the collections of both Sven Berlin and the family of esteemed potter Bernard Leach, please see the note on Lot 3 for further information.