Door and Still Life

Although Moynihan first established his reputation as a pioneer of abstract painting in England in the 1930s, he became after World War II a much sought-after portrait painter (he was commissioned to paint Princess -- now Queen -- Elizabeth in 1946). In the 1970s, he shifted his focus to his studio, painting and drawing self-portraits and still lifes with a special attention to the tools of the artist's trade. The present sheet belongs to this period. The composition, in which the tabletop subject is partially hidden by a door, is characteristic of Moynihan's unconventional approach. "It was especially important to me," he said, "not to arrange the still life so as to form a pictorial grouping -- a picture. I wanted the objects to be found."