11th Feb, 2026 11:00
The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector
68
⊕ GEORGE BISSILL (BRITISH 1896-1973)
FIGURES ON A COUNTRY ROAD
signed BISSILL lower left; pen and black ink and watercolour on buff paper; 39 x 28cm; 15 1/4 x 11in (59 x 46.5cm; 23 1/4 x 18 1/4in framed)
Provenance: Blond Fine Art Ltd, London (from whom purchased in 1979)
Executed in the 1930s. The son of a miner, after suffering a gas attack in the trenches in the First World War Bissill attended Nottingham School of Art before moving to London. There he worked for a time as a pavement artist outside Bush House, and had a solo show at the Redfern Gallery in 1924. He subsequently exhibited at the Royal Academy, with the New English Art Club and at Abbott and Holder. Although primarily a landscape painter, Bissill produced powerful images of miners at work. He moved to Hampshire with his wife in the early 1930s to be closer to nature and in 1941 contributed several watercolours to Kenneth Clark's Recording Britain project. He also designed furniture (see lot 36).
No Reserve
Sold for £380
FIGURES ON A COUNTRY ROAD
signed BISSILL lower left; pen and black ink and watercolour on buff paper; 39 x 28cm; 15 1/4 x 11in (59 x 46.5cm; 23 1/4 x 18 1/4in framed)
Provenance: Blond Fine Art Ltd, London (from whom purchased in 1979)
Executed in the 1930s. The son of a miner, after suffering a gas attack in the trenches in the First World War Bissill attended Nottingham School of Art before moving to London. There he worked for a time as a pavement artist outside Bush House, and had a solo show at the Redfern Gallery in 1924. He subsequently exhibited at the Royal Academy, with the New English Art Club and at Abbott and Holder. Although primarily a landscape painter, Bissill produced powerful images of miners at work. He moved to Hampshire with his wife in the early 1930s to be closer to nature and in 1941 contributed several watercolours to Kenneth Clark's Recording Britain project. He also designed furniture (see lot 36).
Auction: The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector, 11th Feb, 2026
Auction Location: London, UK
John Russell Taylor was a compulsive collector. When he died at the age of ninety, his two bedroom flat on the corner of Brook Green was floor to ceiling with books and pictures that he had collected over the last seventy years. A precocious talent he was awarded a scholarship to read English at Cambridge aged 16 and graduated with a starred First Class degree. Film, theatre and art critic for The Times for more than four decades, he wrote thousands of articles and reviews for the newspaper. He also wrote over sixty books – critical studies, biographies, and monographs. He was appointed professor of Film at the University of Southern California during the 1970s, when he was asked by Alfred Hitchcock to write his biography. Hitch remains the standard text on the film director. John's interests ranged across all aspects of the arts from Art Nouveau book illustration to Vorticism, fan paintings, poetry and stage design. Struck by the visual rather than the value of a work of art, the sale of his picture collection gives a flavour of the full gamut of his encyclopaedic mind, a man remembered for his phenomenal range of reference, his extraordinary talent for writing and his warm and generous character.
For a copy of the printed catalogue, email pictures@olympiaauctions.com
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
View Press Release for more information
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PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
