Auction: Williams Pears

Oil on Panel 5 x 7 inches

This painting is on an acid-free hardboard panel.

Often I take a long time over putting together the setups for my small paintings. This one originally had other objects involved - at one point a mirror in the background, at another an antique silver spoon, and a collections of bowls - but after a few hours of squinting and looking at the shapes made by the values, I decided that these pears didn’t need too much additional support and a simple composition would work best.

Their reds and oranges are rich and deep. The chroma goes as high as 12 in places (on the Munsell scale) and I think that’s why I decided to keep everything else so simple. The background and the cloth have very little chroma at all, and I think that lets the pears do their thing without argument.

And I’ve found that I’ve become more interested in the little imperfections of the fruit I’ve been painting lately. Perhaps they reflect something about a slightly flawed beauty, perhaps a kind of honesty. I want to make beautiful pictures, if I can, but I also want to become involved in the individuality of what I paint as I work. Coming into a closer relationship with something, even something as small and simple as a pear, can have meaning in itself I think - at least, it does for me.

Starting bid is $150

Payment is by PayPal - (although you can pay through PayPal with a credit card without having to set up an account, if you don’t have one).

How to bid

Just click the "bid here" link above and enter your name, email (this will be kept private) and the amount you want to bid.

The auction uses proxy bidding, which means you can set a Maximum Bid, and until that's reached, you're protected from being outbid. So if Bidder A places a Maximum Bid of $200 and Bidder B comes along to try and outbid A, A will be protected till B outbids A over $200.

You’ll be notified of any other bids and whether you’ve won the auction by email automatically. If you win the auction, I’ll send you an email with a link to pay by PayPal.

PLEASE NOTE: As the auction comes to a close, you’ll need to refresh the page to see the latest bids. It may look as if you’ve won when the countdown finishes, but you’ll only see the most recent bids if you refresh the page, so there may have been more bids that you’re not seeing!

Shipping

International shipping is by UK Royal Mail International (tracked) and can take a few days to get to you. I'll let you know by email as soon as I send the painting, and give you the tracking number. I’ll need to allow some time for the painting to dry thoroughly before I send it to you. Usually, two to four weeks.

Returns:

If for any reason reason you’re not happy with your painting, you can return it to me within 14 days for a full refund. Buyer pays return shipping.

If payment isn’t made within three days of purchase, the painting will be offered to the next highest bidder or re-auctioned.