WHYTE'S IRISH & INTERNATIONAL ART 27th September 2021 at 6pm

58 41 Derek Hill CBE HRHA (1916-2000) PREFABS AT BLACKHEATH, c. 1956 oil on canvas signed in monogram lower right; titled and detailing ‘gift of Contemporary Art Society 1956’ on plaque 25 by 14in. (63.5 by 35.6cm) Frame Dimensions: 33 by 22.25in. (83.8 by 56.5cm) There are two areas of the work, a10 cm band a third from the top and a 3 cm band close to the bottom that have significant paint loss. There are also three 2 cm square regions of paint loss upper right, upper centre and lower left. Otherwise good condition. Following the Blitz of 1940-1 the British government proposed a committee to explore solutions to the housing crisis when the war ended. The Burt Committee concluded that prefabrication could be used to manufacture and erect houses quickly, utilising factories and creating employment. The prefabricated bungalows quickly acquired the shortened name of ‘prefabs’ which endures to this day. In a speech in March 1944, Prime Minister Winston Churchill promised 500,000 temporary new homes to deal with the housing shortage. 156,623 temporary prefabricated bungalows were produced in Britain under the 1944 Temporary Housing Programme. They were erected across the UK between 1945-9 from one or two on bomb sites to large estates of 500 and more. It was anticipated that after 10 years they would be replaced with permanent housing. Although the majority of prefabs were demolished, a few thousand survive still inhabited over 70 years later. €2,000-€3,000 (£1,710-£2,560 approx.) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot41