The Artist’s Estate

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When he was eight years old David Hill was taken by his mother, counter-clock wise, round the world. It was a seminal experience and from this early age he was sketching and painting tirelessly, in his artistic career he continued to travel extensively, engaging with the architecture and cultures of the changing landscapes and sketching and painting wherever he went. He worked and painted in New York from 1942-1947, and then moved to Paris, which became his home for the rest of his life. In 1957, he pooled his resources with his artist friend, Joseph Plaskett, and the two purchased a medieval house at 2, rue Pecquay, in one of Paris' oldest districts, the Marais. There, they offered each other great support in their respective artistic careers and they held legendary parties. David Hill’s career was often that of the commercial artist, he provided illustrations for leading publications in France and the U.S. he also worked as a muralist and painted successfully, exhibiting extensively in the Paris galleries, he counted amongst his patrons Cary Grant, who made a habit of purchasing David Hill’s series of egg still lives to present to his leading ladies after each new film he made. 

David’s work is underscored by a superb draftsmanship, his paintings are imbued with an often undefinable surrealist quality and sometimes underlining menace, his work has been collected extensively in the U.K., Paris and the U.S. yet the disposable commercial nature of much of his work means that he remains largely unknown, our Artist’s Estate sale offers collectors the opportunity to engage with this highly original talent. 

Our Artist’s Estate sale features previously unseen works from the studios of artists David Hill, Colin Moss and Gerald Spencer Pryse, this is a timed sale, closing for bids from 9pm on Sunday the 23rd of July. For further details please contact our specialists Jonathan Benson and Daniel Wright.