Public Bar (Study for Mr. Hollingberry's Canary)

oil on canvas
18 x 16 in. (45.7 x 40.7 cm.)
Painted in 1962.

The present work is a study for the remarkable painting Mr. Hollingberry’s Canary, 1963 (Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston), and perfectly captures Ruskin Spear’s mastery of the intimate narrative of pub life. Here, he depicts the surroundings of the ‘Hampshire Hog’, one of his local pubs in Hammersmith.

Provenance

with Leicester Galleries, London.
Anonymous sale; Weschler’s, Washington DC, 17 September 2011, lot 615.

Exhibited

Bournemouth, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Carel Weight and Ruskin Spear, July – September 1962, no. 45, catalogue not traced.