Ceri Richards (1903-1971)
Pan and Syrinx
- stamped with studio stamp
- pen, ink, watercolour and pastel
- 17 by 23 cm.; 6 ¾ by 9 in.
- As told by the Roman poet Ovid in the Metamorphoses, the lusty satyr Pan eagerly pursued the wood nymph Syrinx. Guarding her virtue, she ran until she reached a river and desperately begged her sisters of the stream to transform her. Just as Pan was about to embrace her, Syrinx changed into cattail reeds. When Pan discovered that he was holding nothing but marsh reeds, he sighed in disappointment, causing the wind to blow through the reeds. He was enchanted by the sound, believing it to be the mournful cry of his beloved Syrinx; from the reeds he fashioned a set of pipes so that he could have her with him always.
- £1,600 plus 4% ARR
Ceri Richards (1903-1971)
Born in Dunvant near Swansea, South Wales to a family with a strong interest in music and poetry, which remained key influences on his work throughout his career, in particular the poetry of Dylan Thomas.
He studied at Swansea School of Art, 1921-4 and then at the Royal College of Art, 1924-7, where he became increasingly interested in the work of Picasso and Matisse. From then on lived in London for the rest of his life apart from four years during the Second World War when he was Head of Painting at Cardiff School of Art.