This small but powerful collage exemplifies Piper's innovative approach in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when he was at the forefront of British Modernism. Portland Bill, on the Dorset coast, was one of his recurring subjects; its rugged coastline, stone quarries and lighthouse became motifs through which he explored the drama of the English landscape. Piper had been experimenting with paper and fabric during the war and in works such as 'Portland Bill' he fused this mediuym with oil paint to crate a highly textual surface. The fractured forms and bold contrasts capture both the geological character of the site and the emotional charge of place, qualities that made Piper such a vital interpreter of Britain's landscape and heritage. This work is testament to Piper's reputation as one of the most original voices in post-war British art.



In 1975, Piper wrote a letter stating that Mr Stanley Marcus of Dallas, Texas, USA, had one similar to this work.