Provenance

By email from James Goff 20/5/13 Dear Paul, As discussed I confirm this painting was painted into the pine boards of Joshua Compston’s gallery wall which was covered in Victorian pine boarding. I always admired this painting when I visited my friend Josh who I had let a studio to and for whom I was a pall bearer at his funeral. After Joshua’s sad passing I re-let the space to a company of designers who immediately decided to whitewash the pine boarding. A few years later I re-let the property again on behalf of Jeremy Cooper, the freeholder, and these occupiers wished for exposed sandblasted brickwork on the walls which ere underneath the pine boarding. They refurbished the unit and threw all of the pine boards into a skip. I remembered that the whitewashed pine boards in the skip boasted a great Gary Hume painting which Joshua had adored. I salvage the pine boards and stored them in my friend Mick Kerr’s warehouse in Hoxton Square. Last year I sold the warehouse for Mick and just prior to completion he rang me and asked me when I was going to remove these bloody pine boards that had been in his basement for 17 years. I immediately collected them and got Julia Nagle to restore the painting. I hope this explanation helps Paul, With kind regards, James By email from Gary Hume 15/5/13 Dear paul  I do not really know James. We have met a few times.  Never the less I am very sad to hear that he is so ill.   This painting is called The cloud of unknowing.  After the 14 th century book which I was reading at the time   Best gary