Still Life with Mandolin

Still Life with Mandolin is unsigned, but it was authenticated by fellow artist Melvin Day, who previously owned the painting.[1] Day knew Wallis well and wrote a significant article on his work life and work, including the following observation:

‘Still-life featured as an important part of Wallis’ themes; and in the studio there was at least one still-life in place at any time. These, too, were treated increasingly in a Cubist manner. The multiplicity of views of an object fascinated Wallis because it gave him the opportunity to ring the changes on an infinite variety of greys. Colour was of prime importance to Wallis and he understood the fact that each colour had distinct tonal value.[1]

A related picture, Colour Arrangement with Mandolin (n.d.), is at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki (1974/58).

[1]In fact, a painting by Day appears on the reverse of Still Life with Mandolin.

[2] M. N. Day, ‘Wilfred Stanley Wallis, 1891–1957’, Art New Zealand 13 (Spring 1979), https://art-newzealand.com/13-wallis/.