Maud Sumner (South Africa 1902-1985)
Still life with roses, inkwell and lamp

oil on canvas

Signature details: signed

(1)

37 x 45 cm

Notes:

“As a person I am South African and English, but as a painter I am French”. Maud Sumner (Berman: 1994:444).From an early age Maud Sumner’s interests were focussed on becoming a fine artist but she was initially persuaded by teachers at Roedean in Johannesburg and by her family members to focus on an academic career. On attaining an MA in English Literature from Oxford University in 1922 she persisted in her quest to study fine art and in 1925 enrolled at the Westminister School of Art in London.Although Sumner’s cultural roots were deeply entrenched in England her views on art did not find commonality within the British art school system and she soon made her way in 1926 across the Channel to Paris. After the disruptions brought about by WW1, Paris had re-established itself once again as the art centre of the Western world. Here Sumner found her intellectual and aesthetic footing amongst like-minded art theorists, tutors, artists and critics in a city where she was to be totally absorbed by her artistic aspirations.Soon after she settled down in Paris, Sumner went to see the Russian-born sculptor Naoum Aronson (1872-1943) who was kind and supporting and encouraged her right from the start to enrol at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There she was introduced to her first important artistic influence and teacher, Georges Desvallières (1861-1950), who was one of the founder members of the Salon d’Automne. Together with his close friend Maurice Denis (1870-1943) they founded the Ateliers d’Art Sacré in 1919 in an attempt to renew interest in mythological and religious themes. Sumner was particularly well-read, with interests in literature, philosophy and theology. She became a regular visitor to the Ateliers where she was engaged with lecturers exploring these themes as well as seeking the artistic interaction with fellow artists and tutors.Through Desvallières, Sumner was soon introduced to Maurice Denis who became one of her most influential teachers and mentors during her Paris years. Denis was also closely involved with the group known as Les Nabis whose members included amongst others Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947), Eduard Vuillard (1868-1940), Paul Sérusier (1864-1927) and Félix Vallotton (1865-1925). At this stage of her aesthetic development Sumner was fascinated by the (often) small-scale works and ‘Intimist’ style of painting of these artists who depicted the everyday, mundane objects, friends and family members within confined domestic spaIn the household of her close friend, Marie Blanchard, or whilst visiting family in England during the early nineteen thirties, Sumner often explored the intimate domestic interior as subject matter as can be seen in this exquisite painting. Here the viewer is drawn into a setting where the artist sought to portray a quiet moment to convey a sense of warmth and comfort at a table, stacked with books, a lamp, a vase with roses and an inkwell. According to Eglington (1968:32) Sumner’s pre-war paintings are closely linked to the work of Bonnard and Vuillard: ‘the values of colour predominate, and it is through these values that the objects in a painting are transformed and made to transcend themselves as objects’.

Eunice Basson

Sources:

Berman, E. (1994). Art & Artists of South Africa. (3^rd Ed, 2^nd Imp). Halfway House: Southern Books.

Eglington, C. (1968). Maud Sumner. Lantern, March.