BIKINI, 1966
Gouache. 43 x 27in. (109 x 70cm.)
Monogrammed and dated lower right. Paul label on the reverse.
Provenance
Biddle & Webb, Birmingham, 6th Feb 1998, Lot 445, as Nuclear explosion 'Bikini'.
Fellows & Sons, Birmingham, 7th October 2002, lot 350, as Volcanic Eruption, acrylic on paper.
Dreweatt Neate, Bristol, 27th January 2004 as acrylic on card, lot 574.
David Lay, 15th June 2004, lot 369, as Bikini Atholl.
Red Raven Arts, London.
Exhibited
Berlin, Kunstamt Wilmersdorf, 1969, No. 16, as oil, dimensions given as 125 x 86.5cm. Illustrated in b/w in the catalogue (captioned as 1967).
Bristol, Bristol Arts Centre, 1970, No. 12.
Bikini Atoll is located in the central Pacific, part of the Marshall Islands. It is best known for its role in a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the 1940s and 1950s.
It is almost certain that this work and Atomic Psychosis (1952) are part and counterpart resulting from the use of the decalcomania technique.. Bikini is not as elongated as its sister work, lacking the atoll and surrounding sea.