Pietro Annigoni OMRI (1910-1988) was an Italian artist and portrait painter best known for his portrait of Queen Elizabeth II in 1955. It was believed that his work was very much in the Renaissance tradition with a contrasting modernist style that prevailed in his time. It is important to note that the first painting in 1955 was not his only depiction of Queen Elizabeth II. He also completed further works for the Royal Family in 1969 & 1972. Two of these are now thought to reside in the National Portrait Gallery where they were originally displayed as part of the exhibition ‘The Queen: Art & image, held to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2012.
Golding Young have for auction three paintbrushes gifted by Pietro Annigoni to a Colonel Bertram Laight and Mrs Laight. It is documented through newspaper cuttings from the time that the group first met in 1956 and had been in correspondence since.
The three paintbrushes come with original envelope from Firenze Italy with postage date stamp for 1959 and return address for the artist. Along with an accompanying letter addressed to then Brigadier E.C. Laigth stating
‘I have sent to you three brushes, and of course you can keep them.
With my very best wishes
Yours Sincerely,
Pietro Annigoni’
There also a group of other correspondence between the group, including a signed photograph of the artist and a personal letter confirming the marriage of Pietro to his wife on the 29th January. Related ephemera also includes newspaper cut outs from meetings between Colonel Laight & Annigoni, as well as individual successful stories on one another.
Colonel Laight started out his career in The Salvation Army in 1925, with training at the William Booth College. Working his way through the ranks of Brigadier and Colonel he finally retired in 1966.
This intriguing and important lot comes with a wealth of history and has been consigned on behalf of the Laight family.
The group will be sold as one lot in our Lincoln Fine Art Sale on Wednesday 24th May 2023. For full catalogue description and sale updates please follow this link.
