ROGER ELIOT FRY (1866-1934) Self portrait, the artist wearing a dressing gown and holding a paint brush in his left hand, signed lower left and dated '25, the reverse painted with a still life study of flowers in a vase beside a painted box, oil on canvas, 21" x 17"

Provenance:
The Fry family collection, Bristol.
Joe Fry (1915-1950), racing driver.
Pat Fry (1920-2012) (nee Grant), and thence by descent.

Exhibited: Arts Council Exhibition, London 1952 (no. 29).

Published: Virginia Woolf, "Roger Fry: A Biography", London 1940, reproduced as the frontispiece.

The present work can be compared to other self-portaits by the artist, now at King's College, Cambridge and The Courthauld Gallery, London. The fact that Fry is wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown may indicate that he was convalescent at the time it was painted. The still life painting on the reverse probably dates to around 1916-1917, and depicts pottery from the Omega Workshops designed by the artist.

The auctioneers are grateful to Richard Shone for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.