Lot 591: Theo, Oil on Board, The Guinness Clock South Shields 1950s 48x58

A mid-20th-century oil on board painting depicting a crowded street scene in South Shields during the 1950s. The composition focuses on the famous travelling mechanical Guinness Clock advertisement, featuring its distinctive striped spire topped with a toucan figure and an animated display below the clock face. A diverse group of figures in period attire are shown from the rear, including a child seated on a man’s shoulders pointing towards the attraction. The work is executed in a naive realist style with prominent impasto texture visible throughout the sky and figures. A blue period motor vehicle is partially visible in the lower left foreground.

The painting is signed THEO in dark purple pigment in the upper right corner. The verso of the board support bears two white adhesive labels with handwritten blue ink. The left label reads Sell / Guinnes / Clock Shields. The right label reads THE / GUINNESS / CLOCK. STH / SHIELDS (50s). The work is presented in a dark stained wooden frame with a gilded inner slip.