λ Edward Seago (British 1910-1974) A panoramic view of Sorrento, Italy Oil on board Indistinctly signed with initial and dated 45 (lower right) 20.5 x 25.5cm (8 x 10 in.) Provenance: Marlborough Fine Art, London Purchased from the above and thence by descent to the present owner After five years' war service as a camouflage artist the heart condition Seago had suffered with since childhood was discovered by the army medical corps and he was discharged. Complaining to his commanding officer and fellow painting companion, General Alexander, he was invited to join Alexander in Italy to paint what he liked and in doing so became an unofficial war artist with his own jeep and driver. With limited materials many of the works he produce were sepia wash works on paper, but, as in the present work, he also painted in oil. Edward Seago (1910-1974) Edward Seago was one of the most popular English landscape painters of the 20th Century. He was born and lived in Norfolk throughout his life and the influence of the greatest artists of East Anglia, from the 17th Century Dutch-inspired Norwich School, to John Constable and Sir Alfred Munnings can be seen in his work. His light-filled landscapes, many with vast skies and billowing clouds are imbued with what one critic has described as `an understated emotional language'. The ten works included in our sale span the breadth of his long and very successful career and show his evolution as an artist from rural equestrian scenes to his travels further afield across Europe and Hong Kong, which went on to become some of his most celebrated and popular subjects. Seago was largely self-taught and was influenced and mentored by leading landscape painters of the day such as Alfred East and Bertram Priestman who advised him not `to be unduly governed by what you see in art, but by what you see in nature' . His work gained wide popular appeal and his sell out exhibitions had queues around the block on opening day, but generally art critics saw him `merely recording his visual impressions' and struggled to place his work in the context of modernism and the growing interest in abstraction. He never became an Academician at the Royal Academy, but nonetheless he was a firm favourite with three generations of the Royal Family and in 1956 he was invited by Prince Philip to join him on a trip to the Antarctic aboard The Royal Yacht Britannia. Seago was also a prolific writer and published eleven books, including several with poems and prose by the Poet Laurette John Masefield. Seago was equally at home in the company of the aristocracy or country folk and his work enjoys broad popularity to this day with numerous collectors around the world. Condition Report: There is some minor surface dirt, otherwise in good original condition. No evidence of retouching visible under ultraviolet light. Framed under glass. Condition Report Disclaimer