Notes

Peter Bell came to South Africa to study architecture at the University of Cape Town between 1947 and 1949, during which time he painted the present lot. The title of this work refers to the decommissioned prison off the coast of Marseille in France and also features in Alexandre Dumas’s novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.

Bell was born in the town of Grantham in England’s Lincolnshire district. After serving in World War II, he moved to South Africa, where he studied architecture at the University of Cape Town between 1947 and 1949, followed by a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1952) at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. After graduation, Bell began working at the Ndaleni Art School in Natal. However, he left South Africa in 1963 after briefly being arrested for his opposition to apartheid. He moved to Newfoundland in Canada to lecture in art at Memorial University and to curate the university’s art gallery. He stepped down as the curator in 1972 to become the university’s Artist in Residence. Between 1973 and 1980, he was also the art critic for the Evening Telegram. In 1987, he and his wife moved to Scotland, where he lived until his death. Bell painted in oil and acrylic on masonite and made serigraph prints. Bell’s work is included in many private and public collections, including the Iziko South African National Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, and the Simon Fraser University at Burnaby, British Columbia.