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Dimensions: 152.5 by 183cm.; 60 by 72in.
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Provenance: The artist, and thence by descent
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Literature: Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo and J.L. Martin (eds), Circle, New York, 1971, no.26, illustrated;
S.John Woods, John Piper: Paintings, Drawings & Theatre Designs 1932-1954, Curt Valentin, New York 1955, pl.23 (size erroneously given as 36 by 48in.).
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Notes: As discussed in the note to the previous lot, Piper's abstract paintings of 1936 mark a very definite position in his oeuvre, the point where he both fully evolves a distinct and personal abstract style, yet begins to reintroduce external references into the paintings. Forms on Green Ground, one of the largest abstracts Piper produced, differs from Forms on Dark Blue (lot 49) primarily in the way that it feels more natural, the washed lichen-green stained into the canvas immediately giving a hint of a landscape in which the forms are placed, perhaps akin to the juxtaposition of a white horse or figure carved into the chalk of a hillside. The forms themselves have become more translucent, and the white outlines offer the viewer a feeling that they are able to see deep into the heart of the composition. Indeed, like his contemporary Paul Nash, Piper did make abstract constructions which he then photographed, and in the 1937 image Beach Object we can see forms that do seem to echo those of Forms on Green Ground.
