LESLIE MARR (BRITISH 1922-2021)
LINARIS, SPAIN
signed and dated Marr / '06 lower left; inscribed and dated Linaris June 2006 on the stretcher
oil on canvas
76 x 64cm; 30 x 25 1/4in
unframed
LESLIE MARR (LOTS 96-107)
Introduction
Marr was born in Durham into a family of engineers and shipbuilders and studied Engineering at Cambridge. But while serving in the RAF in the Middle East during the Second World War he began to paint. Short on supplies, he procured some brushes and paint and purportedly used his kit bag as canvas to depict the landscape around him.
On his return to London he enrolled in art school in Pimlico. But uninspired by the conventional approach offered, a chance encounter with David Bomberg’s stepdaughter, Dinora Mendelsohn, led Marr to seek the more vivacious and anything but ‘run-of-the-mill’ teaching style that Bomberg espoused at Borough Polytechnic in South London.
Bomberg’s innovative non-academic approach to painting centred around discovering what he called ‘the spirit of the mass’. It was a method that had been fuelled by his pre-War painting expeditions to far flung and isolated destinations: the rugged landscapes of Palestine, the volcanic gorges of Ronda in Spain, and the mountains of Cyprus. And his ideas had a profound influence on a number of his students, Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach amongst them, as well as Marr himself. Bomberg’s non-conventional style spawned The Borough Group, founded in 1946 by Cliff Holden. Among its members were Bomberg, his wife Lillian Holt, Dinora Mendelson, Dorothy Mead, Edna Mann, Miles Peter Richmond, Dennis Creffield and Marr.
After marrying in 1946, Marr and Dinora travelled to Cyprus with Bomberg. Painting there together Marr’s work flourished, and he would later describe his time in Greece as the point at which he achieved the ‘enlightened’ state. But with the break-up of the Group in 1950 Marr turned to other interests, including as a photographer, film maker and Formula 1 driver before returning to painting after Bomberg’s death in 1957.
Re-connecting with Bomberg’s original approach, Marr travelled far and wide to seek out wild and isolated landscapes - as far afield as New Zealand - and used extreme contrasts and thrusting diagonals to depict untamed Nature. In the present sale these wild landscapes include views across the Scottish Highlands, the Himalayes, Greece and the Western Isles. the Western Isles. Another influence was Chaim Soutine, whose distinctive style permeates much of Marr's later output.
Sold for £200
LESLIE MARR (BRITISH 1922-2021)
LINARIS, SPAIN
signed and dated Marr / '06 lower left; inscribed and dated Linaris June 2006 on the stretcher
oil on canvas
76 x 64cm; 30 x 25 1/4in
unframed
Auction: From the Studio: Works from Eleven Artists' Estates, 12th Mar, 2025
Auction Location: London, UK
This one-of-a-kind auction focuses on the redisovery of 20th century artists, many of whom exhibited in leading West End galleries in their day, their works featuring in museums and art galleries around the world. All now deceased, with many having suffered undeserved obscurity since, their inclusion in From the Studio: Works from Artists' Estates puts the spotlight firmly back on them, to reveal a range of extraordinarily talented men and women.
Most of the artists were admired, promoted and written about by eminent 20th century art critics. Several were Jewish emigres, forced from their homelands to find their way anew in Britain and elsewhere. Many were close friends with other leading contemporary artists, sharing studios and ideas; some taught, several at the Royal College of Art. Throughout, their efforts both individually and together chart the myriad movements and counter movements that define the dynamic 20th century modernist landscape, ranging from Impressionism to Abstraction.
PUBLIC EXHIBITION:
Sunday 9th March:12pm to 4pm
Monday 10th March: 10am to 8pm
Tuesday 11th March: 10am to 5pm
AUCTION:
Wednesday 12th March 2025, 12pm, precisely
Contact the Pictures Department for further information | pictures@olympiaauctions.com | + 44 (0) 20 7806 5541
Viewing
PUBLIC EXHIBITION:
Sunday 9th March:12pm to 4pm
Monday 10th March: 10am to 8pm
Tuesday 11th March: 10am to 5pm
AUCTION:
Wednesday 12th March 2025, 12pm, precisely