We’re delighted to present this new edition of Gross’ rare Coronation print, bearing the Goldmark Atelier blind stamp and the Anthony Gross Estate stamped signature.

In 1952 a ‘Coronation Series’ to be launched to celebrate Elizabeth’s coronation the following year was proposed, which was to comprise 40 lithographs printed at the Royal College of Art under the direction of Edwin la Dell, who took the opportunity to champion lithography at the college. In the end 36 artists contributed prints which were presented for sale in portfolios in an edition of 50. None of the portfolios were numbered and it remains unknown how many were printed – only that certain contributions, like Gross’, are today fantastically scarce.

Gross’ Hampstead Heath presented picnickers and fairground-goers in late summer festivities, transforming his original watercolour scene into a Coronation special with added ‘Elizabeth Regina’ and ‘long live our queen’ blazons on the children’s balloons and a tiny Union Jack flag in the foreground.

The original painting now resides in the government art collection, allowing us to see the changes Gross made to enliven his lithograph. It is typical of his ‘teeming’ style, where land and cityscape ripple in a sea of inky activity. Here the trees explode into a constellatory shimmer of leaves, dancing like stars or firework squiggles reminiscent of Miró and mirrored in the scattered figures below. Gross’ compositional generosity made for one of the more interesting, and enduring, images of the series – one the Goldmark Gallery are delighted to be reviving.