Banana Leaves 1948. Watercolour and pencil. Signed and dated '1948'. 279 x 190 mm. (11 x 7 1/2 inches).		GRAHAM SUTHERLAND London 1903 ~ 1980 London Graham Sutherland went to Pembrokeshire in Wales in 1934. From that moment he became fascinated by natural objets trouvés such as roots and fragments of thorn bushes. His practice was to make sketches and watercolours of these objects outdoors and then work them up in his studio. Thus, by exaggerating their size and introducing violent foreshortening and rich, dramatic colours, he turned natural organic forms into mysterious and threatening 'presences'. Sutherland was a war artist and by 1945 his imagination needed new horizons. Two years later he went to the south of France for the first time and from then on he spent part of each year there, buying a a house in Menton in 1955. Therefore, Mediterranean vegetation became his new interest. He drew and painted vine pergolas, palm palisades, banana leaves, cactus and gourds in brighter colours and with a new stylistic approach. During this period Sutherland brings his forms much closer to the eye and the foreground is seen as if at ground level and the plants appear to be standing up, often on a sort of table top or platform. The pictorial space is greatly flattened and one views his subjects 'head-on'. By 1948 his work had reached maturity and he had become a major personality among contemporary artists.1 Our drawing dates from this period and is one of several variations on this theme.2 It is characterised by very strong outlines and heavy shading in pencil. The leaves have become more like sculpture: they stand up like tall, thin statues and have been brought right up to the picture plane. The yellow background sets off the clarity of the line and reflects the brilliant light of Sutherland's new environment. 1. Douglas Cooper, The Work of Graham Sutherland, London, 1961, p. 36 to 39. 2. Douglas Cooper, op.cit., figs. 99a, 99b, 101b and 101e.