Surrealist School, mid-late 20th century, Washing line, 1970; oil on canvas, signed and dated 70, 81 x 105.5cm (ARR) Provenance: Private collection of Victor Aubrey Lownes III (April 17, 1928 - January 11, 2017). Lownes was an executive for HMH Publishing Company Inc., later known as Playboy Enterprises, from 1955 through the early 1980s. Behind the image of a high-flying suave sophisticated, non-stop, executive, Lownes was a relaxed man who enjoyed everything English. He was the iconic Playboy- skiing in Europe and Aspen -swimming in his jacuzzi with the inevitable bevy of beauties-flying a helicopter to the races- enjoying riding to the hounds and country sports from his home Stocks House in Hertfordshire and although a patriotic American through and through Victor was his happiest here in England . He had a keen eye for art and furnished every property he had with interesting paintings. Incredibly erudite, Lownes knew what he liked, proved by some of the paintings he invested in over the years, artists as diverse as Francis Bacon and Egon Schiele intermingling with more traditional artists such as Gainsborough and Constable. Please refer to department for condition report