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PRUNELLA CLOUGH (1919-1999) Deserted Gravel Pit, c.1946 Oil on board Signed lower right 39 x 49 cm (15 ⅜ x 19 ¼ in) Provenance Austin Desmond Fine Art, London Private Collection France Exhibited Leger Galleries, London, March 1947 In 1958, Bryan Robertson offered Prunella Clough an exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, writing: I've felt very strongly for a long time that you are one of the best painters in this country – and more to the point, in the International context – and the thought of your exhibition gives me immense pleasure. … You must let rip, with a vengeance! 1 In the resulting exhibition, in 1960, Robertson hung Clough's industrial paintings most effectively against a black-painted wall, 2 later identifying their subject – 'tips or artisans' dumping grounds with rusting, abandoned machine parts or broken implements' – as a sustained source of inspiration for the artist. 3 In 1970, Robertson responded belatedly and positively to Ede's request for him to act as Trustee for Kettle's Yard, affirming his 'intense love & respect' for the collection and adding that he thought often of Les Charlottières and 'what you stand for'. 4 Robertson felt a similar admiration for Michael Harrison, curator of Kettle's Yard (1992– 2011), such that he would bequeath a group of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures to complement the scope of Ede's collection. Among these was Garden, an undated painting by Robertson's longstanding friend Prunella Clough. 1. Bryan Robertson, letter to Prunella Clough, 1958, quoted in Andrew Lambirth, The Life of Bryan: A Celebration of Bryan Robertson, Unicorn Press, Norwich, 2019, p.66. 2. ibid. 3. Robertson, obituary for Prunella Clough, Independent, 29 December 1999, quoted in The Life of Bryan, p.70. 4. Bryan Robertson, letter to Ede, 18 March 1970, Kettle's Yard Archive, KY/EDE/1/1. 30