Auction details
20th Century British Art
offered by
Bloomsbury House
24 Maddox Street Mayfair, London, W1 S1PP 
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Duncan Grant (1885-1978) study of a male nude reading gouache and black chalk over pencil, executed circa 1955, 31? x 23? in., 80 x 60 cm.***Provenance: Collection of Paul Roche, London. Private Collection, London. Poet, novelist and acclaimed translator of Greek and Latin texts, Paul Roche forged a relationship with Grant after meeting him by chance in London in 1946, a friendship that would last the rest of the artist's life. Ordained as a Catholic priest in 1943, somewhat extraordinarily he went on to father at least three children with different women, before giving up the priesthood and marrying Clarissa Turner, the mother of his last child, in 1954 and moving with her to America. Nevertheless, Roche was always considered to be the love of the artist's life, something he himself denies in his hitherto unpublished memoir, "Duncan had wanted to kiss me, and this I refused. Indeed in all the 32 years that I was blessed with his extraordinary friendship, I only kissed him once when, just after he had breathed his last at the age of 93 and lay stretched on the bed in my study, I stooped down and with tears kissed his forehead." Throughout their long friendship, Roche repeatedly modelled for Grant, and this present work may be one such example, gifted as it was to Roche. It remained in his private collection until his death in 2007.. ImagesClick on thumbnails to see larger images:
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