African Violets

Assigned title

Attributed to Alec Fleming

Date not recorded

Medium: Oil on hardboard, unvarnished
Dimensions: 30 cm × 25 cmAs recorded in the catalogue
Date: Date not recordedPossibly painted contemporaneously with the torso study (catalogue no. 2).
Signature: Signed lower left
Catalogue no.: Cat. 4* (asterisk explained under Verso)
Source: Catalogue, entry 4
Status: Private collection

Enquiries regarding this work

Description

Close study of flowers, possibly African violets.

Commentary

A rapidly executed study of two purple flowers. Roughly painted, with little detail and a very limited palette. Possibly painted contemporaneously with the torso study (catalogue no. 2).

Attribution

Attributed to Alec Fleming.

Signed lower left. The catalogue gives the work to Alec Fleming but notes that it could be by Barbara Fleming, and seems possibly by a different hand.

Catalogue wording: “Alec Fleming. Signed to bottom left. Could be B Fleming – seems possibly by a different hand.”

How attributions are worded

Signature and inscriptions

Signed lower left

Verso

‘A F’ initials in block capitals to the left-hand side.

Block capitals: ‘A F’ (left-hand side)

Catalogue no. 4* — The asterisk against this catalogue number refers to the catalogue introduction’s note on the “A Fleming” marking on the reverse of many boards, reproduced below. It flags the caveat; it is not itself evidence of authorship.

Source note, catalogue introduction

Many boards are marked “A Fleming” in marker pen, in block capitals, on the reverse. Some of these may be by Barbara Fleming.

It is unlikely that the same marker pen, in the same hand and in the same position on the board, would have been used over several decades. In places the marker is written over older paint marks, staining and scarring, which suggests a later application — potentially at a single date, to denote ownership rather than attribution, and probably by Alec Fleming.

Condition

Fair condition, with no crazing or cracking to the paint surface. Electrical tape has been fixed for two centimetres on the reverse and one centimetre across the paint surface. Some build-up of material in the top right-hand corner. Some water staining to the reverse.

Provenance and research

Research notes

The cross-reference to the torso study is to catalogue no. 2, Self Portrait – Alec Fleming. The attribution caveat is retained as given in the catalogue and is not resolved here.