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Review build — the catalogue is a working document and records are subject to continuing research.

Alec & Barbara FlemingPaintings, drawings and works on paper

Reference photograph, catalogue sheet 21

Cat. 83 · Painting

Boats in a Cove

Assigned title

Attributed to Alec Fleming

Date not recorded

Medium
Oil on hard board
Dimensions
50 cm × 40 cmAs recorded in the catalogue
Date
Date not recorded
Signature
Not recorded
Catalogue no.
Cat. 83* (asterisk explained under Verso)
Source
Catalogue, entry 83
Status
Private collection
Enquiries regarding this work

Description

Small boats, anchored in a shallow cove with a church in the distance.

Commentary

A rapidly and sketchily painted en plein air study of small boats moored in a shallow cove- a typical Alec Fleming scene, handled with confidence and a muted palette. Likely alla prima in France. The sky is painted with a dramatic series of horizontal strokes with clear influence from Fauvist mark making.

Attribution

Attributed to Alec Fleming.

Given to Alec Fleming in the catalogue.

Catalogue wording: “Alec Fleming *”

How attributions are worded

Verso

A Fleming in marker.

Catalogue no. 83* — 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

No signature. Unvarnished.

Provenance and research

Research notes

  • The title is marked [assigned] in the catalogue.

Further works

Alec Fleming