Sale 2514 - The Pride Sale, June 20, 2019

19 c HENRY SCOTT TUKE (1858-1929) Pair of letters by the artist discussing his paintings, with related material . 2 Autograph Letters Signed as H .S. Tuke, each 2 pages, the first 8 1 / 2 x5 1 / 2 inches, 21 1 / 2 x14 cm, and the other a bit smaller; moderate wear and soiling to the first letter and minimal wear to the second. 1926. [700/1,000] These letters are addressed to an unknown recipient “K.G.” The first is dated 11 February 1926, toward the end of Tuke’s nine-week stay in Jamaica; it is written on the letterhead of the Waterloo Hotel on Black River. Tuke writes: “ I have done quite a lot of sketches & studies & found some good subjects, if one was ever to come back here for any length of time.” The second letter was dated at Hampstead, England on 4 May 1926, shortly after his return, discussing his plans to visit the artist colony at Kardomah, Wales with friends: “Masson, Colin, and Towsey are all staying this week-end with Sidney Lomer!” Tuke’s patron Sydney Lomer once famously asked Tuke to define the genitals more clearly in one of his paintings. “Colin” was possibly Colin Goodwyn, a model for his 1900 painting “The Coming of Day”; “Masson” was in all probability the artist’s close friend Charles Masson Fox (1866-1935); and the final guest would be the photographer Stanley Towsey. Tuke also writes “If you come here I can show you a number of my sketches and you can inspect the new room I have added to the house.” with — a pair of letters regarding the sale of a Tuke painting in 1962, and a clipped reproduction of Tuke’s painting “Portrait of Lovers of the Sun.” 20 c HENRY SCOTT TUKE (1858-1929) Personal letter from the noted painter to his friend Ellis . Autograph Letter Signed as “H.S. Tuke.” One page, 9x7 inches, 23x17 3 / 4 cm, folds, mount remnants on verso, minimal wear. Swanpool, England, 26 October 1923. [300/400] This letter is addressed to “My dear Ellis,” quite possibly the renowned English researcher on sexuality, Havelock Ellis (1859-1939), a contemporary who had been a protégé of Tuke’s father. It discusses the rental of an art studio in London, and Tuke’s planned trip to Panama and Jamaica. Tuke’s Jamaica paintings from this trip were the subject of a 2015 exhibition. A complete transcript is available. 19 20