CH R I S B E E TL E S SU MMER S H OW 2 0 1 6
Chris Beetles Summer Show 2016
C H R I S BE E T L E S LT D
Summer Show 2016 cover.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:14 Page 2
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp1-4.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:48 Page 1
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp1-4.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:52 Page 2
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp1-4.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:52 Page 3
Summ
Chris Beetles Summer Show 2016
4
CH R IS BE ET LE S GA LLERY
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp1-4.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:52 Page 4
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:54 Page 5
Summ
G EORGE W EATHERILL George Weatherill (1810-1890)
Copyright © Chris Beetles Ltd 2016 8 & 10 Ryder Street St James’s London SW1Y 6QB 020 7839 7551 gallery@chrisbeetles.com www.chrisbeetles.com
One of Yorkshire’s finest watercolourists, George Weatherill spent his entire life in the Whitby area. Though painting only in his spare time until the age of 50, he developed such a reputation as an artist that he became known as the ‘Turner of the North’.
Further reading Chris Beetles, George Weatherill (1810-1890), London: Chris Beetles Ltd, 1982; Joyce Harland, George Weatherill (1810-1890), Whitby: The Pannett Gallery, 1994
For a biography of George Weatherill, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2013, page 10.
IBSN 978-1-905738-74-8 Catalogue in publication data is available from the British Library
4
Researched and written by David Wootton, with contributions from Fiona Nickerson Edited by Fiona Nickerson and David Wootton Design by Jeremy Brook of Graphic Ideas Photography by Julian Huxley-Parlour Reproduction by www.cast2create.com Colour separation and printing by Geoff Neal Litho Limited
5
Front cover: Alfred Parsons, Blue Flowers (detail) [26] Front endpaper: Anthony Green, Passion IV (detail) [90] Frontispiece: Albert Goodwin, The Madness of the Carnival, Caracas, Venezuela [45] Title page: William Walcot, Ponte Vecchio, Florence [63] Title verso: Cecil Arthur Hunt, Dawn: Le Puy-en-Velay (detail) [58] Back endpaper: Stanley Roy Badmin, Parson’s Pleasure, Oxford [68] Back cover: Anthony Green, A Vase of Sunflowers [91]
1 Whitby from Larpool Signed and dated 1876 Watercolour with bodycolour 7 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄4 inches Exhibited: ‘The Long Nineteenth Century: Treasures and Pleasures’, March-April 2014, no 82 Whitby from Larpool Larpool lies on the River Esk, between Whitby to the north and Ruswarp to the south. As can be seen in the present work, the steeply wooded banks provide a fine view of Whitby.
2 Sunset,Whitby Watercolour with bodycolour 5 1⁄2 x 7 3⁄4 inches
6
5
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:54 Page 6
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:55 Page 7
Summ
5 A Low Tide. Set by the Tide. Brig on Shore at Staithes Signed Inscribed with title and dated ‘Aug 81’ below mount Watercolour 4 3⁄4 x 8 1⁄4 inches
6
7
3 On the Beach Signed Watercolour with bodycolour 10 1⁄4 x 16 3⁄4 inches
4 Ships in Moonlight Watercolour 3 1⁄2 x 5 3⁄4 inches
6 Schooner off Whitby, Morning Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour on card 3 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches
7 Morning off Whitby Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour on card 3 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches
8 Unloading the Ship Signed Watercolour on board 5 1⁄4 x 8 1⁄4 inches
9 Becalmed – Off Whitby Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour on card 3 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches
8
7
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:56 Page 8
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:54 Page 9
Summ
WILLIAM HE NRY BA RTL ET T William Henry Bartlett (1809-1854) William Henry Bartlett was a leading writer and illustrator of picturesque travel books during the early Victorian era, and ‘was perhaps rivalled only by Edward Lear in the range and frequency of his travels’ (Briony Llewellyn, 1996, page 292). 10 Moonlight off Whitby Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour with bodycolour on card 3 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches
William Henry Bartlett was born at Bartholomew Place, Kentish Town, Middlesex, the second child and elder son of William and Ann Bartlett. He was educated – unhappily – at a local boarding school, between the ages of seven and twelve. In 1823, at the age of fourteen, he began a seven-year apprenticeship with the antiquary, John Britton, who sent him across Britain in order to make topographical drawings. The results were included in such publications as Cathedral Antiquities of England (1821-36) and Picturesque Antiquities of English Cities (1830). During the same period, he also painted copies of works by such artists as Cotman, Girtin and Turner. On 6 July 1831, Bartlett married Susanna Moon, the niece of Francis Moon, a publisher and printseller. They honeymooned in Holland and Germany, and then settled at Bartholomew Place. Together they would have three sons and two daughters (and may have adopted a servant, Sarah, as a third daughter).
8
11 Evening at Sea Inscribed with title on reverse Watercolour on card 4 1⁄2 x 8 inches
12 Whitby Abbey from the Port Watercolour 4 3⁄4 x 8 1⁄4 inches
During the early 1830s, Bartlett began to exhibit his own watercolours at leading London institutions, including the Royal Academy and the New Society of Painters in Water Colours. The Continental tours that he soon began to undertake helped him to expand his range of subjects, and made him all the more eligible to contribute to the increasingly popular genre of the travel book. His usual approach was to make pencil sketches on tour, which he would then develop into monochrome watercolours on his return. If Thomas Wright’s The History and Topography of the County of Essex (1836) called for him to depict a vernacular terrain, subsequent commissions enabled him to visit and respond to a great range of foreign destinations. These included Dr William Beattie’s Switzerland Illustrated (which was published in 1836, and established his career), John Carne’s Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor &c (1836-38), Julia Pardoe’s The Beauties of the Bosphorus (1838-40), and Nathanial Parker Willis’s American Scenery (1840) and Canadian Scenery (1842). During the 1840s, Bartlett developed his own projects, beginning with Walks about the City and Environs of Jerusalem (1844), the first of three books on the Holy Land. From 1849 to 1852, he also edited and contributed numerous reviews to Sharpe’s London Journal. Then, in the 1850s, he made several voyages in the western Mediterranean, his last travel book being Pictures from Sicily, published in the same year as his history of early colonial America, The Pilgrim Fathers (both 1853). His four visits to North America also led him to
produce the first of a three-volume The History of the United States of America (completed by Charles Mackay and B B Woodward, and published posthumously in 1856). Bartlett died suddenly on 13 September 1854, on board the French steamer, Egyptus, just off the coast of Malta, and was buried at sea. He was returning from a trip to sketch the seven churches of Asia Minor (in what was then the Ottoman Empire). The contents of his studio were auctioned by Southgate and Barrett, of 22 Fleet Street, London, on 29 January 1855. In the same year, his friend and fellow traveller, Dr Beattie, published his Brief Memoir of the Late William Henry Bartlett. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum and the V&A; the Victoria Art Gallery (Bath); and The Huntington Library (San Marino, CA) and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY). Further reading R E Graves (rev Anne Pimlott Baker), ‘Bartlett, William Henry (1809-1854), H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 4, page 185; Briony Llewellyn, ‘Bartlett, William Henry (b London, 26 March 1809; d at sea, off Malta, 13 Sept 1854)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 3, page 292; Alexander Ross, William Henry Bartlett: artist, author, traveller, University of Toronto Press, 1973 (which reprints William Beattie’s Brief Memoir of the Late William Henry Bartlett, 1855)
9
10
9
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:55 Page 10
Provenance for nos 13-19: The Estate Sale of Bartlett's Watercolour Drawings, Southgate and Barrett, 22 Fleet Street, London, 29 January 1855
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:57 Page 11
Cave of Kureitun
View from Tabor
‘Where is this cave of Adullam? [In the Land and the Book of 1859,William] Thomson places it at Mugharet Kureitun, southeast of Bethlehem, as the only place that could furnish a sufficient stronghold for David’s army [I Chronicles 9].This is a good seven miles away, a long run for these valiant men, if David were still there, for he may have moved nearer to the enemy, and to Bethlehem.’
‘Mount Tabor is described as almost insulated, and overtops all the neighbouring summits … The remains of a large fortress are found on the top of the mountain; and a strong wall may still be traced surrounding the summit, and running close to the edge of the precipice. A lofty arched gate, called the Gate of the Winds, and which is supposed to have been the principle entrance, is also shown. Nor is this the only ruin on top of the mountain. The area is said to be covered with the remains of what are supposed to have been private dwellings; but which were built of stone with great solidity.
(The Reverend J T Durward, Holy Land and Holy Writ, Baraboo WI: Pilgrim Publishing Co, 1913, page 204)
Well of the Virgin, Jerusalem 13 Cave of Kureitun Ink 5 x 8 1⁄4 inches Provenance: Lot 123, as ‘Cave of Kureitum’
10
14 Well of the Virgin, Jerusalem Ink and pencil 5 x 7 1⁄4 inches Provenance: Lot 132, as ‘Fountain of the Virgin, Jerusalem’ Preliminary drawing for Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, or Scenes of Sacred History, Historical and Descriptive, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 46 (engraved by J C Armytage); Scripture Sites and Scenes, from Actual Survey, in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine. Chiefly for the use of Sunday Schools, London: Arthur Hall and Co, 1849, facing page 164
‘In the valley appeared one of those fountains, which, from time immemorial, have been the halting-place of caravans, and sometimes the scene of contention and bloodshed.The women of Nazareth were passing to and from the town, with pitchers upon their heads.We stopped to view the group of camels, with their drivers, who were there reposing; and, calling to mind the manners of the most remote ages, we renewed the solicitation of Abraham’s servant unto Rebecca, by the Well of Nahor [Gen. xxiv. 17.]. In the writings of early pilgrims and travellers, this spring is denominated “the fountain of the Virgin Mary;” and certainly if there be a spot throughout the Holy Land, that was undoubtedly honoured by her presence, one may consider this to have been the place; because the situation of a copious spring is not liable to change; and the custom of repairing thither to draw water, has been continued among the female inhabitants of Nazareth, from the earliest period of its history.’ (Edward Daniel Clarke, Travels in various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, part 2: Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land, London: Cadell and Davies, 1812, Chapter XIII: ‘The Holy LandAcre to Nazareth’; quoted in Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 46)
… it was currently believed to be the mount of transfiguration [of our Lord] as early as the fourth century.’
15 View from Tabor Inscribed with title Ink 5 1⁄4 x 7 3⁄4 inches Provenance: Lot 123
(Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, London: George Virtue, 1840, pages 61-62)
11
Descent from Gibeah to Michmash
‘From the village of Sindschil, or Sinjil, the road leads over a rocky precipice to Beer. This is said to occupy the site of the ancient Michmas. Its situation, on the southern slope of a hill, gives it a pleasant aspect; and a copious fountain irrigates the valley below. The existence of a ruined church on the mountain has encouraged the belief that it was here the mother of our Lord first discovered his absence from the company, on their return from Jerusalem. On one of the neighbouring heights stood the city of Gibeon; for some time the consecrated city of the covenant; and the place in which King Solomon offered up his noble prayer, not for riches, or length of days, but for wisdom.’ (Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 124)
Summ
16 Descent from Gibeah to Michmash Ink with bodycolour 6 x 9 inches Provenance: Lot 123
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:55 Page 12
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 08/05/2016 20:57 19:56 Page 13 18
Mount Zion from the Hill of Evil Counsel
Petra
‘On the mention of Mount Zion, the image of Old Jerusalem rises to view, with all the circumstances of its ancient pomp and glory …
‘the very irregularity and strangeness of the architectural combinations have something that better harmonizes with the romantic situation and singular forms of the surrounding rocks than a more pure and regular design might, perhaps, have possessed. And here I should not omit to notice what every traveller has been struck with, and what, in fact, particularly in this range of tombs and in this side of the city, forms one of the most striking peculiarities of Petra – I mean the colouring of its rocks, which is wild, fantastic, and unique, as indeed, is everything else about the place.’
Mount Zion, if correctly traced, is partly within and partly without, the walls of the modern city. The foundations of the palace of David may still, it is supposed, be viewed on its rocky brow. Here too was the house of Caiaphas, the high-priest; and here is pointed out the spot on which the house stood in which our Lord celebrated his last Passover; while close at hand are the supposed sepulchres of David and Solomon.’
(William Henry Bartlett, Forty Days in the Desert on The Track of the Israelites, London: Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co, 1848, page 134)
(Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 151)
Fair at Khan et Tujjàr
12
17 Mount Zion from the Hill of Evil Counsel Ink 10 x 14 1⁄4 inches Provenance: Lot 117, as ‘Mount Zion’ Illustrated: Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, or Scenes of Sacred History, Historical and Descriptive, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 151 (engraved by Edward Brandard); Scripture Sites and Scenes, from Actual Survey, in Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine. Chiefly for the use of Sunday Schools, London: Arthur Hall and Co, 1849, facing page 142
11
18
‘the Khan-et-Tujjàr, the Khan of the Merchants, a place now in ruins, but situated in the romantic valley, between Mount Tabor and Tiberias, and once the most frequented rendezvous of the wealthy of the land.’ (Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 230)
18 Petra Ink 9 x 13 inches Provenance: Lot 117
19 Fair at Khan et Tujjar Ink with pencil 8 1⁄4 x 9 inches; 8 1⁄4 x 8 3⁄4 inches Provenance: Lot 117, as ‘Fair Near Mount Tabor’ Illustrated: Henry Stebbing, The Christian in Palestine, or Scenes of Sacred History, Historical and Descriptive, London: George Virtue, 1840, page 230
13
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:57 Page 14
ED WA R D L E AR Edward Lear (1812-1888) Though now best known for his nonsense poems and drawings for children, Edward Lear made his initial reputation as an ornithological illustrator, and then earned his living as a landscape painter. During extensive travels in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, he made frequent, evocative sketches that acted as the basis for astonishing oils and watercolours. For a biography of Edward Lear, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2014, page 5. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, The Courtauld Gallery, the Government Art Collection, the V&A and the Tate; the Ashmolean Museum
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:57 Page 15
(Oxford), The Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), Liverpool Public Library, the Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool) and The Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester); and Blacker-Wood Library, McGill University (Montreal), Houghton Library, Harvard University (Cambridge MA), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) and the Paul Mellon Center for British Art at New Haven. Further reading
Briony Llewellyn, ‘Lear, Edward (b Holloway, London, 12 May 1812; d San Remo, Italy, 29 Jan 1888)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 18, pages 904-906; Vivien Noakes, Edward Lear 1812-1888, London: Royal Academy of Arts, 1985; Vivien Noakes, ‘Lear Edward (1812-1888)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 32, pages 994-1000; Vivien Noakes, The Painter Edward Lear, Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1991
Massa Ducale Between May and August 1861, Edward Lear travelled in Switzerland and Italy, with his Greek servant, Giorgio Kokali. In mid July, he was exploring the Tuscan coast and, on 11 July, reached Massa. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the town was the capital of the Principate, then Duchy, of Massa and Carrara and, during Napoleon’s reign, was ruled by his sister, Elia Baciocchi, as part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. At the time of Lear’s visit, it had just become part of the newly unified Italy.
In his diary for 11 July 1861, Lear described Massa as ‘ἒτσι κ´ ἒτσι’, that is ‘so and so’, and added that he ‘had once seen that more than a
14
day here would be troppo’. Initially, he found little ‘worth drawing’, but at 3:30pm, after lunch and a siesta, he went with Giorgio ‘to an isolated chestnut-&-pine covered hill & drew till 5.30. Oranges frequent’. That session resulted in the present drawing. As he left Massa for Carrara in the late afternoon, and rose into the hills, Lear became aware of what he called the town’s ‘true character’, as ‘the Castle & palace & town [came] out like spots of gold from the green plain’. (The diary extracts were transcribed by Marco Graziosi from the manuscript, MS Eng. 797.3, in the Houghton Library at Harvard University.)
15
20 Sonnino Signed, inscribed with title and dated ‘Feby 4 1840’ Chalk with bodycolour on tinted paper 4 3⁄4 x 8 3⁄4 inches Sonnino Early in 1840, Edward Lear stayed in Rome, and used it as a base from which to visit a number of villages in the Campagna. On 4 February, he went to Sonnino, half way between Rome and Naples, and made a number of pencil sketches, four of which are now in the Houghton Library, Harvard University. One of those sketches was clearly used as the basis of the present drawing, made on the same day, possibly in recollection rather than on the spot.
In the second volume of Illustrated Excursions in Italy, published by Thomas M’Lean in 1846, Lear described Sonnino in the following way: The mountain town … is not far from Terracina, on the borders of the Papal States; and formerly bore an evil character as being the haunt of banditti. At present its chief interest is the romantic character of its position, and the extremely varied and picturesque costume of its inhabitants (page 13) Regarding its former character, in 1819 – just over 20 years before Lear’s visit – Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, Secretary of State to Pope Pius VII, had ordered Sonnino to be destroyed as it had become notorious as a refuge for bandits. However, in the event, the town was not razed to the ground and neither were its inhabitants deported.
21 Massa Ducale Inscribed with title, ‘Roofs brown or grey – W Chin’ and ‘Flies!’ and dated ‘11 July 1861’ Pen and ink with pencil on tinted paper 14 1⁄2 x 19 1⁄2 inches
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:57 Page 16
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:57 Page 17
16
17
22 Cefalù Signed with monogram Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour 4 1⁄2 x 7 inches Provenance: Canon Charles Church (1823-1915), a friend of Lear, and by descent
Cefalù Edward Lear visited Sicily on two occasions: in the spring of 1842 and the early summer of 1847. On the second, he travelled with John Joshua Proby (1823-1858), a friend of a friend, who may possibly have been a pupil. As indicated by a number of comic drawings that Lear made of their experiences, they became good companions; indeed, so much so that they undertook two further trips in 1847, to Calabria and the Kingdom of Naples. These further trips were described by Lear in Journal of a Landscape Painter in Calabria, published in 1852. Only later did Lear discover that Proby was heir to the Earl of Carysfort, a title in the Peerage of Ireland. However, he never gained the title for, having long suffered with his health, he died at the early age of 35. Of the two watercolours included here, one clearly shows the distinctive headland under which Cefalù nestles [22], while the other records the vegetation of the surrounding area [23].
23 Miles from Cefalù Inscribed with title and ‘(231)’, ‘(see – 18)’, ‘Shades of foliage’, ‘Deep raw sienna & blue – distance – perfect blue & blue’, ‘Yellow earth – sand’, olive grove’, reeds’ and further colour notes, and dated ‘9 July 1847’ Pen ink and watercolour with pencil on tinted paper 12 1⁄4 x 19 1⁄4 inches
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:56 Page 18
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:58 Page 19
Summ
HELEN ALLINGHAM Helen Mary Elizabeth Allingham (née Paterson), RWS (1848-1926) One of the most successful women artists of the Victorian age, Helen Allingham produced archetypal watercolour images of cottages and gardens.
Her work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum and the V&A.
Helen Allingham was born Helen Paterson in Swadlincote, south Derbyshire, on 26 September 1848, the eldest of seven children of a doctor. She was brought up in Altrincham, Cheshire, where she attended the Unitarian school for girls, which had originally been set up by her maternal grandmother, Sarah Smith Herford. Then, on her father’s death in 1862, the family moved to Birmingham to live with her paternal grandmother.
Further reading Nancy Clay-Marsteller, ‘Allingham, Helen. British painter and illustrator, 1848-1926’, Delia Gaze (ed), Dictionary of Women Artists, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997, vol 1, pages 176-178; Christopher Newall, ‘Allingham [née Paterson], Helen (b Burton on Trent, Staffs, 26 Sept 1848; d Haslemere, Surrey, 28 Sept 1926)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 1, pages 666-667; Ina Taylor, ‘Allingham [née Paterson], Helen Mary Elizabeth (1848-1926)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 1, pages 861-863
Helen Paterson studied at the Birmingham School of Design (1862-65), the Royal Female School of Art, Bloomsbury, London (1866-67), the Royal Academy Schools (1868-72) and the Slade School of Art (evening classes, 1872-74). In the spring of 1868, she visited Italy and, on her return to London, began to support herself by drawing illustrations for Once a Week and other periodicals. This led in 1870 to a permanent position as an artist on the staff of The Graphic. In that year she began to exhibit drawings at the Dudley Gallery. At this time, she was particularly influenced by the work of Fred Walker and Myles Birket Foster, who later became a friend.
18
19 In 1874, Helen Paterson married the Irish poet, William Allingham (1824-1889), author of ‘Up the Airy Mountain’, and together they would have three children. Though she gave up her place on The Graphic, she continued to produce occasional illustrations for The Cornhill magazine and other periodicals and books. Placed by her marriage at the centre of the Cheyne Walk set, she met John Ruskin, who became an admirer of her work. She was, by then, more fully engaged in establishing a career as a watercolourist. She was elected an Associate of the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1875, and when, in 1890, full membership was opened to ladies, she was immediately promoted. (In 1881, the society had become the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours.) From 1881, Helen Allingham lived at Sandhills, near Witley, Surrey and specialised increasingly in scenes of rural life. These were exhibited in her first two solo shows at the Fine Art Society: ‘Surrey Cottages’ (1886) and ‘In the Country’ (1887). Following her return to London in 1888, she continued to make regular sketching expeditions into the countryside of Surrey and Middlesex, often accompanied by her close friend, Kate Greenaway. By the end of the 1890s, she was making efforts to expand the range of her subject matter; for instance, she produced a group of harvest scenes in the Kentish countryside near Westerham. However, an exhibition of Venetian pictures at the Fine Art Society in 1904 was not a success. She died in Haslemere, Surrey, on 28 September 1926.
An Old Cottage Garden, Brook, Surrey The present image represents the garden of Sister Cottage, Haslemere Road, Brook, Surrey, close to the Allinghams’ home at Witley. At the time that it was painted, the sixteenth and seventeenth-century building was used as the post office and village shop. Many thanks to Annabel Watts for help in compiling this note. 24 An Old Cottage Garden, Brook, Surrey Signed Watercolour 14 x 10 ½ inches Provenance: Arthur Tooth & Sons, London
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:56 Page 20
ED I T H M A RTI N EAU Edith Martineau, ARWS (1842-1909) Edith Martineau was a pioneering figure among artists of the Victorian period, in that she was one of the first women to be admitted to the Royal Academy Schools and one of the first to be elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours. She was also ambitious in the range of her subject matter, applying her admired precision of handling to floral still life compositions, landscapes, rural genre scenes and portraits of children.
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 08/05/2016 20:58 19:56 Page 21 22
Edith Martineau was born at 30 Mason Street, West Derby, Liverpool, on 19 June 1842, one of the eight children of the Rev Dr James Martineau, an eminent Unitarian minister and religious philosopher, and his wife, Helen Higginson, the daughter of a Unitarian minister. She was the niece of the writer and theorist, Harriet Martineau, her father’s closest sibling. In 1844, when she was two years old, the family moved to their newly built house, Park Nook, in Prince’s Park, to the south of the city. Taught at home, she received her first experience of formal education when she attended Liverpool School of Art in her early teens.
In 1857, Martineau moved with her family to London, and settled at 10 Gordon Street, in Bloomsbury. From there, she began attending classes at Leigh’s Academy, in Newman Street. Then, in 1862, she became one of the first women artists to be admitted to the Royal Academy Schools. According to Charlotte J Weeks, writing in The Magazine of Art in 1883, she also attended some classes at the Slade School of Art. In the year that Martineau entered the RA Schools, she also successfully submitted a work for exhibition to the Society of British Artists. She would soon exhibit regularly at a range of venues in London, including the Royal Academy and the Society of Lady Artists, and widely in the provinces. During the years 1883-86, she was a member of the Dudley Gallery Art Society, before being elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1888, one of the first women to receive that honour. Soon after the Martineaus moved along the road to 5 Gordon Street, in 1874 (but before they moved to 35 Gordon Square in 1880), they began to holiday in Scotland, taking The Polchar, a cottage in Rothiemurchus, Aviemore, that became the family’s summer residence for the next 50 years.
20
19
In 1901, she moved – with her sisters, Gertrude and Mary Ellen – to 5 Eldon Road, Hampstead, which had been the home of their brother, Russell, until his death in 1898. Once there, she became a member of the Hampstead Art Society. In 1902, she and Gertrude co-edited their father’s unpublished sermons, as National Duties and other Sermons and Addresses. Then in 1906, they held ‘Aviemore and the Highlands, and other water-colour drawings’, a joint exhibition at the Modern Gallery. It was the most significant of Edith’s life, for she died at home three years later, on 19 February 1909, aged 66. A further exhibition of the work of Edith and Gertrude, along with their sister-in-law, Clara Martineau, was held at the New Dudley Gallery in 1910, partly in commemoration of Edith’s death. At the time of her death, an obituary in The Art Journal compared her work to that of Helen Allingham, and the Allinghams and the Martineaus had moved in the same intellectual and cultural circles. Further reading Kristina Huneault, ‘Martineau, Edith (1842-1909)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 37, page 13
22
21
ALFRE D PAR SON S Alfred William Parsons, RA PRWS RSW RI HRMS ROI NEAC (1847-1920)
25 The Old May Tree Signed Signed, inscribed with title, ‘III’ and the artist’s address on label on original backboard Watercolour with bodycolour on board 14 3⁄4 x 12 1⁄4 inches Exhibited: Manchester Art Gallery, 1895 (priced at £10 10s)
Alfred Parsons became an expert in various branches of the art of the garden. He used watercolour to produce fresh portraits of gardens and accurate illustrations of botanical specimens. Having collaborated on books with the famous gardener, William Robinson, he went on to become a designer of gardens in Britain and the United States. His transatlantic connections were strengthened through his membership of the Anglo-American ‘Broadway Group’ of artists and writers that included Henry James and John Singer Sargent. He further broadened his horizons and deepened his knowledge through trips to Japan in the period 1892-94. Alfred Parsons was born in Beckington, Somerset, on 2 December 1847, the son of a surgeon, and educated at private schools. He was employed as a clerk in the Savings Bank Department of the Post Office (1865-67), and then studied at the National Art Training School in South Kensington (which later became the Royal College of Art). Specialising in pastoral landscapes, garden scenes and flowers, he exhibited at the
Royal Academy from 1871 and at other leading London galleries, including the Fine Art Society, which mounted five solo shows of his work between 1885 and 1894. The show held in June 1893 comprised ‘Watercolours illustrating Landscapes and Flowers in Japan’, the fruits of his first visit to the country from March to December 1892. Three years later, in 1896, he relayed details of his visits in Notes in Japan. Parsons was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1897 (becoming a full academician in 1911) and to the associate membership of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1899 (RWS 1905, PRWS 1913). He was also a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (1882, resigning 1898), the Royal Institute of Painters in Oils (1883), the New English Art Club (1886), the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water-Colours, the Imperial Arts League (1910) and an honorary member of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters (1919). Fpage 22
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:56 Page 22
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:58 Page 23
As an illustrator of books and magazines, Parsons worked in pencil and pen and ink in addition to watercolour. Through his contributions to Harper’s Monthly Magazine, he befriended the American artists, Edwin Austin Abbey and Francis Davis Millet, and encouraged them to settle in the Worcestershire village of Broadway, becoming central to an informal group of artists and writers. The Quiet Life (1890), illustrated by Parsons and Abbey, is the most lasting record of this relationship. Parsons designed several gardens in the village, including that of Luggershill, the house that he had built in 1911, from a design by A N Prentice. He died there on 16 January 1920. Early in the painting’s history, a three inch strip was removed from the bottom of the canvas as part of the process of reframing. This strip, which is signed by the artist, has been retained. A detail of this is shown above.
26 Blue Flowers Signed, inscribed ‘No 1’ and with title and artist’s address, and dated 1919 on label on stretcher Oil on canvas 31 1⁄2 x 50 inches Probably the work exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1919, as no 139
22
His work is represented in the Royal Academy of Arts and numerous public collections. Further reading Tancred Borenius (rev Anne Helmreich), ‘Parsons, Alfred Williams (1847-1920)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 42, pages 907-908
Summ
ALB ERT GOOD WIN Albert Frederick Goodwin, RWS (1845-1932) In synthesising the influences of J M W Turner and the Pre-Raphaelites, Albert Goodwin may be considered one of the most Ruskinian of Victorian landscape painters. Indeed, he was taken up by John Ruskin and, in 1872, given the opportunity to travel with him on an intensive tour of Italy and Switzerland.This set the pattern for many further and extensive travels. Like Ruskin, Goodwin responded to landscape with a religious fervour and understanding; but he interpreted it with even greater eclecticism than did his mentor, even experimenting with the style of James McNeill Whistler, Ruskin’s adversary in the field of aesthetics. For a biography of Albert Goodwin, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2014, page 26. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, Tate, the V&A, The Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery and The Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester). For further information on the life and work of Goodwin, please refer to Albert Goodwin RWS 1845-1932, 1986; Albert Goodwin RWS 18451932, 1996; and Albert Goodwin RWS 1845-1932, 2007; all published by Chris Beetles Ltd. Chris Beetles has also published a sumptuous landscape folio limited edition volume of over 400 pages and more than 200 colour plates, accompanied by extracts from Goodwin’s diaries.
28 Figures Resting by a River Signed with monogram and dated /70 Watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 5 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄2 inches
27 A Cavern on the Cornish Coast Signed with monogram and dated /72 Watercolour with bodycolour 6 1⁄2 x 4 1⁄2 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection This is probably the work exhibited at the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Winter 1872, no 270
23
24
23
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:58 Page 24
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:59 Page 25
31 Falls of the Rhine Signed, inscribed with title and dated 87 Watercolour 6 x 9 inches
24
Summ
32 Bray Signed and inscribed with title Watercolour with pen ink and bodycolour on tinted paper Enclosed by a decorative border 9 x 11 inches
25 29 The Passage of the Red Sea Signed and dated 82 Watercolour with pencil 11 3⁄4 x 17 3⁄4 inches
The present work is an early version of the painting, The Passage of the Red Sea, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889.
33 Winchester (opposite) Signed and dated 1900 Watercolour 9 x 11 1⁄2 inches
Storm on the Simplon Pass In 1873, Albert Goodwin spent three months in the village of Simplon, in the Swiss canton of Valais. This extended stay in one place provided the inspiration for many paintings made in later years.
30 Storm on the Simplon Pass Signed and dated 82 Watercolour with pen and ink 8 1⁄2 x 12 1⁄4 inches
26
25
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:59 Page 26
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 20:59 Page 27
Summ
34 Holyrood, Edinburgh Signed and inscribed ‘Holyrood’ Watercolour with pen and ink 10 x 14 1⁄2 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection A painting of the same title ‘Holyrood’ was exhibited at the Royal Society of Painters in WaterColours, Winter 1901, no 90
36 Vitznau, Lake Lucerne Signed, inscribed with title and dated 19 Watercolour with bodycolour 13 1⁄2 x 19 3⁄4 inches
26
27
35 Windsor Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1908 Oil with pen and ink on paper 10 3⁄4 x 14 3⁄4 inches
37 Venice from the Lido Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1915 Watercolour and bodycolour 13 3⁄4 x 20 1⁄2 inches Provenance: Hewson & Forster, Fine Art Dealers, 16 & 18 Church Street, Sheffield
30
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:57 Page 28
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:58 Page 29
41 Palma Majorca Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1925 Watercolour and bodycolour with pen ink and pencil Enclosed by a decorative border 10 x 14 1⁄2 inches
38 Naples – The Eruption Signed and inscribed with title Oil on paper laid on board 10 x 14 1⁄4 inches
28
39 Etna & Taormina Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1905 Watercolour 10 x 14 1⁄2 inches
40 Antibes Signed and inscribed with title Oil with pen ink and pencil on paper laid on board Enclosed by a decorative border 9 x 11 1⁄4 inches
29 42 Benares Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1917 Watercolour with pen ink and bodycolour on tinted paper Enclosed by a decorative border 7 1⁄4 x 10 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection Literature: Albert Goodwin RWS 1845-1932, Limited Edition Book, Chris Beetles Ltd 1986, plate 174 Exhibited: ‘Albert Goodwin RWS 1845-1932. 129 of his Best Works borrowed from Private Collections’, a museum tour of the Royal Watercolour Society, Sheffield Mappin Art Gallery, Ruskin Gallery, Stoke on Trent City Museum and Art Gallery, May-October 1986, no 114; ‘Fine Material for a Dream’, Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, April-May 1992, no 76, Ferens Museum and Art Gallery, Hull; ‘A Watercolourist’s Dream. Albert Goodwin (1845-1932) & John Lewis Roget (1828-1908)’, The County Gallery, Maidstone, February-March 1999
27
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:00 Page 30
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:00 Page 31
Summ
The Madness of the Carnival
‘Friday, February 16th [1912],
10 pm, Caracas Arrived at La Guayra at sunrise. A most astonishing place, reminding me a little of the coast in the neighbourhood of Amalfi (Italy).
43 The Citadel, Cairo from the Mokattam Hills Signed, inscribed ‘The Citadel, Cairo’ and ‘From The Makotton Hills’, and dated 1912 Watercolour with bodycolour 13 1⁄2 x 20 1⁄2 inches
30
After getting through with some trouble … we began the long climb – rail – up to this city, and a more wonderful climb it would be difficult to find. The colour of burnt sienna and venetian red hills against the blue of the sea beyond (with all tropical foliage as a frame to it all in front) made a panorama that was, I think, certainly the most wonderful I have ever seen. Hotel Klindt, Caracas (German) We reached here at about 11am, but arriving here, though the situation is as wonderful as could be, yet I’d give a good sum down if I could get away and on to the boat to-morrow! And indeed Daisy and I have cudgelled our brains to think how we can, but it seems no boat goes back to Trinidad till next Thursday, and how we can stay in this evil city till then I cannot think, and wish to goodness we had never come. Everything about the place to me is base and horrible, made more so in spite of the great possibilities of the climate, situation and surroundings encompassing it.
44 Tombs of the Mamelukes, Cairo Signed and inscribed with title Watercolour with pen ink and bodycolour on tinted paper 7 1⁄4 x 10 3⁄4 inches
All the architecture and public buildings, as though monkeys had imitated some of the worst styles of Italian rococo! And the dirt – and the indescribable smell of human abominations in all the streets, and to find oneself shut in to this (for this hotel is in the centre of it all) and this for a whole week, makes me sick at the thought of it. Yet what can we do?
31
45 The Madness of the Carnival. Caracas, Venezuela Signed and inscribed with title Watercolour with pen ink, pencil and bodycolour 13 3⁄4 x 10 inches Provenance: Hewson & Forster, Fine Art Dealers, 16 & 18 Church Street, Sheffield Exhibited: ‘Drawings and Pictures by Albert Goodwin RWS’, Leggatt Brothers Gallery, London, 1919, no 12
I even thought we would go on to our Dutch boat to Curaçoa on the chance of getting back to Trinidad or anywhere out of this. The only advantage, that of high air, we do not seem to feel, for if it is high the mountains are higher and the city lies reeking in its own garbage … 10.30 pm Writing this all in bed. Outside the yells of market women smoking Havana cigars (it is getting towards carnival time and I suppose there is extra license), but I feel like Lot shut in Sodom.’
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:58 Page 32
‘Sunday, 18th. Hotel Klindt, Caracas Carnival began yesterday, signalized by the banging of guns and cannon at 4 pm, after which outside in the Gyuania here every sort of masked men and women dance till 11 pm. But this was principally a procession which I suppose was of all the rank and fashion of the city, looking like a gigantic circus, the Guaza being lighted up by thousands of coloured lamps. It is a lamp-light place, indeed it’s only possible to think of it as a bearable place to live in when the streets are lighted up, and you cannot see so much evidence of dirt and the utter absence of sanitation. If one could do without a nose, it might be possible to think you were not in such an evil case. How we shall hail the day of departure!
32
Well, I’m surprised we are still alive, but we keep in our bedroom, being fortunately alongside of each other with a balcony at the top of the house. After our one drive through the fly-buzzing streets we did not want another, and prefer to be prisoners in our rooms than to go out to be assaulted by smells at every turn. I did go into the Cathedral and two other churches this morning, in the hope I might see something a little less revolting, but the tawdry ugliness was still more evident then, though they were fairly clean and cool, but in each being pursued by a cleric with a plate for contributions, I escaped for my life … Surely the queerest Sunday I have ever spent, riot, noise and madness, for it seems a little short of that – carnival, a sort of devil’s substitute for happiness which, if the R C Church is rightly credited with being the author of, is sitting in judgment of the condemnation upon itself, surely the words are fulfilled of the Scripture: “The Prophets prophesy falsely and the Priests bear rule by their name and the people love to have it so and … what will they do in the end thereof?” For it is the end that has to be looked to. I saw a little pictorial sermon on this yesterday; from the window of my bedroom I look down the street below where the maddest part of the carnival is going on. Opposite me is one of the many ugly churches which rear their stucco fronts against an amber sky. On the parapet, just under the big bell, looking down on the work of their hands, three biretta and black-gown-clad priests were standing, surveying their pupils below in the riot of confetti-throwing, one smoking a cigar. It was so typical that if I do any painting here I’ll paint that as an illustrated sermon.
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 08/05/2016 21:00 19:59 Page 33 36
One small gleam of clear sky and violet hills beyond. The dark figures of priests, all the rest an impression of entangling telegraph, telephone and all other entanglements of wire and confetti streamers “serpenting” down below the crowd in the dust of their own making … As I write, the quiet glory of evening (5.45 pm, Monday) is lighting up the mountains that are seen over the roof of the church, with a calm reproachful glory (if only they had eyes to see) to look on these things which speak of better kingdoms which may be inhabited and which join this world to that which is to come, calling us not to be content with poverty but to enter into true riches that great inheritance we are invited to make our own.’ ‘Wednesday, February 21st. 10.30 pm … The people were beginning to get ready for the last and (we were told) the most furious day and night of carnival and really felt great pity for us when they saw us leaving; thinking no doubt how sorry we must be to have to go away before the best of the fun was over, little realizing how thankful we were to be turning our backs on the place. The last night there settled me to get off at an early hour the next day, riot and yells and mad hullabaloo all night, lessening about 3 am. After that the continued wails of a woman in the street below who would not be comforted, made the rest of the morning sleepless. She seemed to represent just the other side of the picture to the so called “gaiety”! Another was in the tram-car that brought us from Makuto to La Guayra this morning, into which came a poor woman carrying in her arms a child which seemed dying, her face a haunting one of pitiful agony. She sat opposite me and crossed herself as she looked down at the poor grey face of her baby – which baby I verily believe expired in her arms before she reached La Guayra, for it had Death plainly written on it from the first sight I caught of it. “So runs the world away.” ’
46 Canterbury Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1914 Watercolour with pen ink and pencil 10 x 14 1⁄2 inches
31
36
33
(Extracts from the The Diary of Albert Goodwin, RWS, privately printed, 1912, pages 161-165)
47 St Mary Redcliffe, Bristol Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1926 Pen ink, oil and watercolour with pencil on paper laid on board 8 3⁄4 x 11 inches
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:00 Page 34
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:01 Page 35
34
35
48 Salisbury Cathedral Signed, inscribed ‘Salisbury’ and dated 1916 Oil on board 13 3⁄4 x 20 1⁄2 inches Exhibited: ‘Albert Goodwin RWS 1845-1932. 129 of his best works borrowed from Private Collections’, a Museum Tour of the Royal Watercolour Society, Sheffield Mappin Art Gallery, Ruskin Gallery, Stoke on Trent City Museum and Art Gallery, May-October 1986, no 110
49 Salisbury Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1921 Oil and watercolour with bodycolour and pencil on paper laid on board 10 x 13 3⁄4 inches
48a Salisbury Cathedral Inscribed with colour notes, including: ‘Every colour in umbrellas and dresses’, ‘Y White’, ‘Deep Blue’, ‘D O Green’, ‘V O Green’, ‘White’, ‘Cathedl Grey Brown with warm shadows reflecting underneath sculpture’, ’E B Sky’, ‘G G Trees’, ‘colours in figures’, ‘High School’, ‘Girls in White and Red parasols’, ‘Black clergy’ Pencil 4 1⁄2 x 7 inches A study for Salisbury Cathedral [49]
50 Gathering for Battle, Knole Park, Sevenoaks Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1921 Watercolour and bodycolour on board 14 x 20 1⁄2 inches
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:59 Page 36
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 19:59 Page 37
Summ
H E RC U L E S B R A BA Z O N BRABAZON Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, NEAC PS (1821-1906) For much of his life, Hercules Brabazon Brabazon pleased himself as a gentleman traveller, producing luminous, loosely-handled watercolours of favourite paintings and places (including India, which he visited in 1870, 1875 and 1876). Admired by John Ruskin as an heir to J M W Turner, he joined the eminent critic on a sketching tour to northern France in 1880. Yet his startling modernity was probably recognised only in the 1890s, by a younger generation of artists, which included John Singer Sargent, Walter Sickert and Philip Wilson Steer. Through their enthusiasm, he was elected a member of the New English Art Club in 1891, and held the first of a series of solo shows at the Goupil Gallery in the following year.
36
Hercules Brabazon Brabazon was born in Paris on 27 November 1821, the youngest son of Hercules Sharpe of County Durham and Ann Brabazon of County Mayo, Ireland. In 1832, the family returned to England and settled into their new country house, Oaklands, in Sussex, built for them by Decimus Burton. Brabazon was educated at Dr Hooker’s preparatory school, until 1835, when he began an unhappy period at Harrow. This came to an end in 1837 when he transferred to a Pestalozzi School in Geneva. Three years later, he began to study mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge. Following his graduation, he flouted his father’s wishes to read law and, as a result, travelled to Rome on a reduced allowance. There he studied music at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, and art at the Accademia di San Lucca, and from then on concentrated on those two subjects. In 1847, his elder brother died, and he succeeded to the Brabazon estates in Connaught, by the terms of the will becoming Hercules Brabazon Brabazon. On 24 May 1848, he left Rome and returned to England via Spain and France, encountering the work of Velasquez for the first time; after Turner, Velasquez became the artistic inspiration of his life. Following the death of his father in 1858, he also inherited the family estate in Sussex, and appointed his brother-in-law Major Combe to act as its manager. Brabazon spent the summers in England, and winters on the Riviera or travelling further afield. His major travels included a number of visits to the Middle East, North Africa and India.
Brabazon began to produce his atmospheric watercolours and pastels in the 1860s. Though he first appeared as a gentleman amateur, his unique talent was soon recognised by John Ruskin, and later by John Singer Sargent, so that he straddled artistic generations and approaches. In 1867, he was elected to the membership of the Burlington Fine Art Club alongside Dante Gabriele Rossetti and Ruskin and, in 1880, accompanied Ruskin, Arthur Severn and Arthur Ditchfield on a sketching tour of Amiens. Sargent met Brabazon in 1885, and was inspired by his work to turn to watercolour. In 1891, he succeeded in encouraging Brabazon to join the New English Art Club, and exhibit alongside its other members. His first solo show took place at the Goupil Gallery in the following year, and was a critical success. He attracted a following of younger artists, and counted Francis James as a pupil. He died at Oaklands on 14 May 1906. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum, The Courtauld Gallery, Tate, the V&A, The Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), Manchester Art Gallery and The Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester); and Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge MA). Further reading Hilarie Faberman, ‘Brabazon, Hercules Brabazon (b Paris, 21 Nov 1821; d 14 May 1906)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 4, page 619; Martin Hardie (rev Jessica Kilburn), ‘Brabazon [formerly Sharpe], Hercules Brabazon (1821-1906)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 7, pages 131-133; C Lewis Hind, Hercules Brabazon Brabazon, 1821-1906: His Art and Life, London: George Allen, 1912
37
51 Venice from the Steps of Santa Maria Della Salute Signed with initials Watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 6 3⁄4 x 9 3⁄4 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection
Chris Beetles has mounted a number of highly successful exhibitions of the work of Hercules Brabazon Brabazon. The most recent, entitled Art and Sunshine, was held in 1997 and accompanied by a large illustrated catalogue: 176 pages, 273 colour plates and extended biographical essays.
52 Pompeii Signed with initials and inscribed with title Watercolour 8 1⁄2 x 12 inches
40
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp5-38.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:01 Page 38
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:03 Page 39
CONSTAN CE FRE DERIC A G ORD ON-C UMMING Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming (1837-1924) Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming was one of the most intrepid and enterprising women travellers of the Victorian period, who also had the skill and industry to record her journeys in word and image. Encouraged by her many distinguished connections, during the height of the British Empire, she visited India, Ceylon and many of the countries of the Pacific Rim, between 1868 and 1880.The extent of her achievement is still in the process of evaluation.
Her work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Cambridge). Further reading Elizabeth Baigent, ‘Cumming, Constance Frederica Gordon(1837-1924)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 14, pages 631-632; Hugh Laracy, Watriama and Co. Further Pacific Island Portraits, Canberra: ANU E Press, 2013
For a biography of Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2014, pages 13-14.
38
39
53 A Street in Mysore Watercolour and bodycolour on tinted paper 8 x 10 1⁄2 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection
54 Villa Arson Signed with initials and inscribed ‘Arson’ Pastel on tinted paper 6 x 8 1⁄4 inches Provenance: A Boston Collection
55 Study of Baka Delo Tree Anie Bay, Nananu, Fiji Signed and inscribed with title Watercolour with bodycolour 11 1⁄4 x 16 1⁄2 inches
37
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:29 Page 40
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:29 Page 41
CON STA N CE F RE D E R IC A G ORD O N- C UMMI NG
CECIL A RT HUR HUNT Cecil Arthur Hunt, VPRWS RBA (1873-1965) Once elected a full member of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1925, Cecil Arthur Hunt retired from his career as a barrister and turned his serious pastime of painting into a profession.While he had first established himself as a painter of mountains, especially the Alps and the Dolomites, he soon proved himself a master of a great variety of topographies. The impressive, often stark, effects that he achieved rival those associated with his friend and mentor, Frank Brangwyn.
Summ
For a biography of Cecil Arthur Hunt, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2014, pages 38-39. Chris Beetles has done much to revive interest in the work of Cecil Arthur Hunt. He mounted a large-scale retrospective exhibition in 1996 at his London gallery, on the exact site of the artist’s first substantial show in 1901. The retrospective was accompanied by a definitive catalogue, which remains available from the gallery, as both a paperback and a limited edition hardback. The notes on the works by Cecil Arthur Hunt are written by Fiona Nickerson.
40
41
56 Naiviri Bay, Nananu, Fiji Signed with initials, inscribed with title and dated ‘Oct 1876’ Watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 10 x 14 inches
‘Nananu itself is rather a low flat island, in shape something like a star-fish, whence you perceive that you cannot walk far in any direction without looking down on the sea – the bluest sea, with lines and patches of vividly emerald green, marking where the coral-reef rises almost to the surface. All the centre of the star-fish is a great grassy hill, but each of its many arms is edged with a belt of magnificent old trees, which overshadow the whitest of coral-sand, and in some places quite overhang the water. You are tempted to bathe at every turn. One bay in particular is quite lovely. I have never seen another quite so fascinating in any country. It is an immense horse-shoe of the purest white sand, where for a mile and a half you can walk along the water’s edge, shaded by noble old mdelo, mbaka, tavola, and eevie trees, making a belt of dense cool verdure.’ (Constance Frederica Gordon-Cumming, At Home in Fiji, London: William Blackwood & Sons, 1881, vol 2, pages 113-114)
57 Schiehallion and the Road to Struan Signed and inscribed ‘The Road. Struan’ Signed and inscribed with artist’s address on label on original backboard Watercolour 11 x 14 1⁄2 inches Provenance: The Fine Art Society, Bond Street, London, 1929
Schiehallion and the Road to Struan Hunt travelled regularly to Scotland from 1922. In 1928, he sketched in Perth and Kinross, making drawings of the area around Loch Rannoch and the Tummel Bridge in his sketchbook (SB22). In the present watercolour, he shows Schiehallion, a mountain of over 3500 feet, from the Struan road looking southwest. The Gaelic name Schiehallion, or Sìdh Chailleann, translates as ‘the Fairy Hill of the Caledonians’.
44
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:04 Page 42
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:04 Page 43
42
43
58 Dawn: Le Puy-en-Velay Signed Watercolour with pencil 15 1⁄2 x 22 inches
Dawn: Le Puy-en-Velay Hunt travelled to Le Puy-en-Velay in the Haute-Loire region of France in 1926. It is the start of one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, and the majesty and theatricality of its surroundings, and the spirituality of its setting, inspired him to dedicate this watercolour to the memory of his son, Esmond Moore Hunt, who died in 1927 at the age of 19. The pinnacle in the foreground is surmounted by the Chapel of Saint Michel d’Aguilhe, while the Corneille Rock in the distance is topped by the Notre-Dame de France, an imposing statue of the Madonna and Child. Hunt made a visual record of his visit to Le Puy-en-Velay in his sketchbooks of 1926 (SB18 and SB19).
60 Demolition Signed Pen ink and watercolour with bodycolour 11 x 15 inches
59 Morning in the Mountains: Savoy Signed Signed and inscribed with title on label on reverse Watercolour of mountains and an industrial scene on reverse Watercolour with bodycolour 14 3⁄4 x 18 1⁄2 inches A painting of Savoy was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1943, no 595, as ‘Hills of Savoy’.
61 The Slag Heap, Black Country Signed Signed and inscribed with title on reverse Watercolour with bodycolour 9 3⁄4 x 13 inches Exhibited: ‘Cecil Arthur Hunt VPRWS RBA’, October 1996, no 6; ‘Recording Britain: The Twentieth Century Landscape’, February 2008, no 80
On reverse: Misty Valley Signed Watercolour with bodycolour 11 1⁄4 x 15 1⁄4 inches
Demolition Hunt was attracted to the theatrical quality of sites of industry and demolition, and so found much to inspire him when, in November 1959, the large Watney Stag Brewery between Victoria Street and Bressenden Place in London’s Victoria was razed to the ground. Paintings of the brewery’s remains were exhibited at the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours in 1960 and 1963. He made drawings of the subject in his sketchbooks for 1959 (SB41 and SB43).
41
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:29 Page 44
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:05 Page 45
Summ
W I LLI A M WA LCOT William F Walcot, RBA RE (1874-1943) Working as a painter and printmaker, William Walcot became the most celebrated architectural artist in England during the 1920s and 30s. For a biography of William Walcot, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2014, pages 42-43. His work is represented in the collections of The Cleveland Museum of Art (OH).
Further reading Catherine Cooke and Polly Walcot Stewart, ‘Walcot, William (1874-1943)’, H C G Matthew and Brian Harrison (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, vol 506, pages 760-761; J M Richards, ‘Walcot, William [Valkot, V F] (b Lustdorf, near Odessa, Russia, 10 March 1874; d Hurstpierpoint, W Sussex, 21 May 1943), Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 32, page 773
44
45
62 An Ancient Palace Signed Oil on paper 28 1⁄2 x 42 inches
63 Ponte Vecchio, Florence Signed and dated 1919 Watercolour with varnish on board 15 3⁄4 x 20 inches Literature: Architectural Water-Colours and Etchings of W Walcot, London: H C Dickins, 1919, page 121
46
45
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:05 Page 46
STAN L E Y ROY BA D M IN Stanley Roy Badmin, RWS RE AIA (1906-1989) Throughout his career, S R Badmin used his great talents – as etcher, illustrator and watercolourist – to promote a vision of the English countryside and thus of England itself. By underpinning his idealism with almost documentary precision and detail, he was able to produce images that appealed to all, and could be used for a great variety of purposes, from education through to advertising. The wellbeing suggested by each rural panorama is all the more potent, and pleasing, for the accuracy of each tree and leaf, and the plausibility of the slightest anecdotal episode.
For a biography of S R Badmin, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2004, pages 36-37. His etchings are represented in numerous public collections, including the British Museum; the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford); Aberystwyth University School of Art; and the Herbert F Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University (NY). Chris Beetles has been the leading authority on S R Badmin for the last 30 years, since he mounted a large-scale exhibition and published the definitive book,S R Badmin and the English Landscape (1985). Early last year, he presented a further major exhibition of over 200 unseen works, mostly from the Badmin Estate. This was accompanied by the catalogue, S R Badmin RWS: Paintings, Drawings and Prints, which includes a second edition of Chris Beetles’ catalogue raisonné of the prints, a newly-researched chronology, bibliography and a list of exhibitions. Both the original book and the new catalogue are available from the gallery.
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:30 Page 47
65 Swinbrook Bridge Signed and inscribed with title and ‘A/P 1st’ Inscribed ‘Published 1931 RA 1931 ed 45 Bridge replace during War? Storm clouds removed in the 4th st. trial on a very fine laid paper’ below mount Etching 3 1⁄2 x 5 1⁄2 inches Artist’s proof from an edition of forty-five Executed in 1931 and published by the Twenty-One Gallery Literature: Chris Beetles, S R Badmin and the English Landscape, London: Collins, 1985, page 54, Catalogue Raisonné no 22 Exhibited: Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, 1931, no 72; Royal Academy of Arts, 1932, no 1109; Fine Art Society, February 1933, no 40, £3.3.0; McDonald’s Gallery, New York, 1936; Fine Art Society, July 1937, no 49, 2 1⁄2 Gns; Leicester Galleries, 1955, no 2 (as ‘Old Swinbrook’); Worthing Art Gallery, 1967, no 9
66 Fallen Mill Sails Signed, inscribed with title and numbered 6/35 Signed, and inscribed with title and ‘Published by the 21 Gallery Mill Street W1 (demolished in War) ed 35’ below mount Etching 4 1⁄4 x 4 3⁄4 inches Number six from an edition of thirty-five Executed in 1931 and published by the Twenty-One Gallery Literature: Chris Beetles, S R Badmin and the English Landscape, London: Collins, 1985, pages 55 and 63, Catalogue Raisonné no 23 Exhibited: Fine Art Society, 1933, no 23; McDonald’s Gallery, New York, 1936; Worthing Art Gallery, 1967, no 114; Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, 1981, no 47; Lannards Gallery, Billingshurst, 1988, no 16 (26/35); ‘Recording Britain: The Twentieth Century Landscape’, February 2008, no 16
46
64 The Season Commences – Richmond Signed and dated ‘31 Signed and inscribed with title and medium on original back label Pen ink and watercolour 7 1⁄2 x 11 3⁄4 inches Provenance: Inns & Blake, London EC4 Exhibited: Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Summer 1932, no 48
‘If Mr Badmin is put first it is because he accepts more completely than the others the convention of line and wash … Mr Badmin makes no bones about his tone and the result is that drawings like “Mill Street W” and “The Season Commences – Richmond” give complete satisfaction.’ (The Times, review of The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Summer 1932)
Summ
67 Richmond Bridge, Surrey Signed Inscribed with title and numbered ‘37/50’ below mount Etching 4 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄4 inches Number thirty-seven from an edition of fifty Executed in 1931 and published by the Twenty-One Gallery Literature: The Studio, November 1931, page 348; Chris Beetles, S R Badmin and The English Landscape, London: Collins, 1985, page 56, Catalogue Raisonné no 24 Exhibited: Royal Academy of Arts, 1931, no 1173; ‘First International Exhibition of Etching and Engraving’, Art Institute of Chicago, March-May 1932, no 89, $20; Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, 1932, no 178; Fine Art Society, February 1933, no 53, £4.14.6; McDonald’s Gallery, New York, 1936, as ‘Richmond-on-Thames’; Fine Art Society, June 1937, no 50, 4 Gns; Worthing Art Gallery, 1967, no 11, as ‘Richmond Bridge over the River Thames’
47
56
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 48
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 49
70 Parson’s Pleasure, Oxford Signed with initials, inscribed with title and ‘Conifer trees very yellow on sunny side since very dark green brown in shade’, and dated ‘July 26th 1929’ below mount Watercolour with pencil 5 1⁄4 x 8 1⁄2 inches From a sketchbook Provenance: The Estate of S R Badmin Preliminary drawing for Parson’s Pleasure, Oxford [68]
48
49 68 Parson’s Pleasure, Oxford Signed Inscribed with title and ‘From sketches done 1929-37’, and dated ‘Jan 1938’ below mount Watercolour with pen ink and pencil 6 1⁄4 x 10 3⁄4 inches Provenance: Sir John Stirling Maxwell BT, Pollok House, and by descent Exhibited: Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Summer 1938, no 47, as ‘Parson's Pleasure’
Parson’s Pleasure For many years, until its closure in 1991, Parson’s Pleasure was a secluded area of the Oxford University Parks, intended for male-only nude bathing in the River Cherwell.
69 Parson’s Pleasure Inscribed with title Pen and ink with pencil on tracing paper 6 3⁄4 x 11 inches Provenance: The Estate of S R Badmin Preliminary drawing for Parson’s Pleasure, Oxford [68]
71 Valley in County Down, Northern Ireland (from near Hilltown). Looking toward the Mourne Mountains Signed Small pencil sketch of Haymakers below mount Inscribed ‘The Mourne Mountains from near Hilltown’ below mount Pen ink and watercolour on board 9 1⁄2 x 14 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: Park Browman and others, The British Countryside in Colour, London: Odhams Press Ltd, 1950
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 50
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 51
72 Stoke Goldington Signed and signed with initials, inscribed with title and ‘Bucks – Northants’, and dated ‘Aug 1950’ Watercolour with pencil 7 x 12 inches
50
51
73 Flooded Meadows Signed Inscribed ‘Watersfield’, ‘Bignor Park’ ‘West Burton’ and ‘Sussex’, and dated 1960 below mount Signed and inscribed with title on label attached to original backboard Watercolour with bodycolour, 6 1⁄4 x 15 inches Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1960, no 867 74 The Wilmington Yew Signed and inscribed ‘The Great Yew at Wilmington Susx’ Inscribed ‘Yew at Wilmington Church ... Wilmington Sussex finished 1962 done approx 58’ below mount Signed and inscribed with title on label on original backboard Watercolour with pencil, 7 x 10 3⁄4 inches Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland Exhibited: The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Autumn 1962, no 3
75 A South Down Nativity Signed Signed with initials, inscribed with title and ‘From my garden at Bignor (more or less)’, and dated ‘1964-5’ below mount Pencil sketches of figures and birds below mount Watercolour with bodycolour 12 x 11 inches Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 52
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:06 Page 53
52
53
76 Charity Farm House, Frittenden, Kent Signed, inscribed with title and dated ‘May ’73’ Watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 5 x 8 1⁄2 inches From a sketchbook Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland
Charity Farm House, Frittenden, Kent In 1973, the fifteenth-century half-timbered Charity Farm House was the home of the artist, Patrick Ferguson Millard (1902-1977), and his second wife, Joan Millard (née Mann). Mrs Millard may be the woman depicted by Badmin in the second-floor window. Badmin first met Millard when he studied under him at the Royal College of Art. They then taught alongside each other at Richmond School of Art and St John’s School of Art, and remained friends.
77 The Narrow Boat Inn on The Grand Junction Canal Islington Signed, inscribed with title and ‘Leaf from a sketchbook’ and dated 1980 Signed, inscribed ‘The Narrow Boat Public House on The Grand Junction & Union Canal at St Peter's St Islington (leaf from a sketch book)’ and with artist's address, and dated ‘June 1980’ on label on original backboard Watercolour with pencil on paper laid on board 5 1⁄4 x 8 1⁄2 inches From a sketchbook Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland Exhibited: Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours, Spring 1981, no 49, as ‘The “Narrow Boat”, Grand Union Canal, Islington’
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:07 Page 54
54
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:07 Page 55
79 Stopham Bridge under Snow Signed and inscribed with title Inscribed with title and dated 1985 below mount Inscribed ‘Royles Publication. Card Rights Only’ and dated ‘Feb ’85’ on reverse
78 Goats Roaming on Stopham Bridge Signed and dated 1981-3 Signed with initials, inscribed with title, ‘Goats Roam on Stopham’s Medieval Bridge’, ‘W Sussex Nr Pulborough’, ‘This 7 arched bridge dates back to the 14th century. It has “S” Bends’, and dated 83 below mount Pencil sketch of flying ducks below mount Watercolour with bodycolour 10 1⁄2 x 15 inches Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland
80 The Old Mill, Bignor Signed and inscribed with title Inscribed ‘Renovated 1987' and ‘The Silver Fir’, and dated 1986-7 below mount Watercolour with bodycolour 9 x 12 inches Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland Exhibited: Royal Society of Painters in WaterColours, Autumn 1987, no 229; Lannards Gallery, Billingshurst, West Sussex, July 1988
Watercolour with bodycolour and pencil 5 3⁄4 x 9 1⁄2 inches Published by Royle as a greetings card Provenance: F T Roeters Van Lennep, Switzerland
55
47
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:31 Page 56
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:31 Page 57
Summ
N OR M A N N E A SO M Norman Neasom, RWS RBSA SAS (1915-2010) Having grown up on a farm in Worcestershire, Norman Neasom developed into a master of the figure in the landscape. However, he did so in a variety of ways, creating work that ranged from the purely naturalistic through the caricatural to the poetic and surreal, and that seemed to straddle the pagan and the pious.
For a biography of Norman Neasom, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2010, page 55. His work is represented in the collections of Her Majesty the Queen; the Royal Watercolour Society; and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and the West Midlands Arts Council.
56
83 The End of Summer Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1961 Watercolour and pencil 13 1⁄4 x 13 3⁄4 inches
84 Himbleton Winter Signed and dated 1986 Inscribed with title below mount Watercolour and bodycolour with pen ink and pencil 12 x 14 1⁄4 inches
57 81 Feeding Time Signed and dated 1992 Signed, inscribed with title and dated 1992 on reverse Watercolour and bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 6 1⁄2 inches
82 The Nebo Road Signed and dated 1980 Signed and inscribed with title on reverse Watercolour with bodycolour 8 1⁄4 x 10 1⁄2 inches
58
57
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:31 Page 58
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:07 Page 59
Summ
P I E T RO A N N I G O N I Pietro Annigoni, RP (1910-1988) The Italian artist, Pietro Annigoni, worked with supreme skill in the old master tradition, as draughtsman, painter, engraver, and occasional sculptor. Among a broad range of subjects, including religious themes, he produced many self portraits, which charted his development and essayed his skills. Having decided, after the Second World War, that the British would be particularly sympathetic to his approach to art, he became world famous, in 1956, when he painted Queen Elizabeth II.
58
Pietro Annigoni was born in Milan on 7 June 1910, the son of Ricciardo Annigoni, a mechanical engineer. He was educated at a local primary school, the Ginnasio Giuseppe Parini and the Collegio Calchi-Taeggi. When he moved with his family to Florence, in 1925, he attended the Collegio Padri Scolopi. At the same time, he attended classes in life drawing at the Circolo degli Artisti and at the Accademia di Belle Arti. In 1927, he entered the Accademia as a full-time student, and took courses in painting (under Felice Carena), sculpture (under Giuseppe Graziosi) and engraving (under Celestino Celestini). He based his style on Italian old masters, and learned from their techniques, while also receiving advice on oil tempera from the Russian artist, Nikolai Lokoff. Annigoni exhibited for the first time with two other artists, in Florence in 1930, at the Galleria Cavalensi e Botti. In the following year, he won the Domenico Trentacoste award. Then, in 1932, he held his first solo show at the Bellini Gallery in the Palazzo Ferroni, which attracted the attention of the artist, Giorgio de Chirico, and the art critic, Ugo Ojetti, who featured him in the arts section of Corriere della Sera. In 1935, he was given international exposure when selected to participate in the ‘Exposition d’Art Italien Moderne’ at the Jeu de Paume in Paris. A further exhibition at the Casa d’Artisti, in Milan, in 1936, brought him particular acclaim, and led to the important commission to produce frescoes in the Convent of San Marco, Florence. At the same time, he travelled widely, finding inspiration in the paintings that he studied, and producing a series of landscape watercolours. In 1937, he married Ann Giuseppa Maggini; they would have a son and a daughter. The open opposition of Annigoni to the fascism of Mussolini led to his ostracism from the cultural establishment within Italy until the end of the Second World War. But conditions so changed from 1945 that he was able to produce some of his greatest and most characteristic works. In 1947, he founded the Gruppo dei Pittori Moderni della Realtà, with six other painters, including Gregorio Sciltian and the brothers, Antonio and Xavier Bueno, and together they signed a manifesto.
However, the group folded in 1949, and Annigoni was alone among its members to remain true both aesthetically and ethically to its opposition to abstraction. Late in the 1940s, Annigoni decided that the British public would be particularly sympathetic to his approach to art; and indeed, to an extent, he paralleled such Neo-Romantic contemporaries as Michael Ayrton. From 1949, he began to exhibit at the Royal Academy (showing a self portrait) and, in the following year, held the first of several successful solo shows in London (at Wildenstein), which led to international fame. Living in London for six months a year, he received many commissions, particularly for portraits, including several of members of the royal family, and was the subject of solo shows in Paris, New York, San Francisco and, of course, Italy. In 1954, the Fishmongers Company requested a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, and the result proved phenomenally popular when it was exhibited in 1955 at the Royal Academy. While a second version, painted for the National Portrait Gallery in 1969, was less well received, Annigoni remained a prominent artistic personality through his later years. His first wife dying in 1969, he married Rosella Segreto, one of his favourite models, in 1976. During the late 1960s, he returned to religious works for various Italian churches, the most significant being those for the Abbey of Montecassino (197880) and the Basilica del Sant’Antonio in Padua (1985). He died in Florence of kidney failure on 28 October 1988, having failed to recover from a perforated ulcer earlier in the year.
59
A major retrospective took place in Florence, at the Palazzo Strozzi, in 2000. His work is represented in numerous public collections, including the National Portrait Gallery; the Museo Pietro Annigoni (Florence); and Indianapolis Museum of Art (IN). Further reading C R Cammell, Pietro Annigoni, London: B T Batsford, 1954; C R Cammell, Memoirs of Annigoni, London: Allan Wingate, 1956; Philip Core, ‘Annigoni, Piero (b Milan, 7 June 1910; d Florence, 29 Oct 1988)’, Jane Turner (ed), The Dictionary of Art, London: Macmillan, 1996, vol 2, page 123; Robert Wraight, Pietro Annigoni: An Artist’s Life, London: W H Allen & Co, 1976 For a list of the extensive publications about Pietro Annigoni in Italian, see http://www.annigoni.info 85 Self Portrait Signed Oil on canvas 13 1⁄2 x 12 1⁄4 inches Painted circa 1945
‘PietroAnnigoni is not only the greatest painter of [the twentieth] century, but also ranks amongst the greatest painters of all time.’ (Bernard Berenson)
62
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:32 Page 60
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:32 Page 61
A NTH O N Y G R E E N Anthony Eric Sandall Green, RA HonRBA HonROI LG NEAC (born 1939) No visitor to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition can overlook the work of the painter and printmaker, Anthony Green. His large, irregularly shaped oils rehearse the experience of his life, and especially his marriage, with exuberance, humour and passion.
60
Anthony Green was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, on 30 September 1939, the son of Frederick Sandall Green and his French wife, Marie Madeleine Dupont. He was educated at Highgate School, where his art teacher, Kyffin Williams, proved to be a positive influence. He then studied at the Slade School of Art, London, from 1956 to 1960, winning the Henry Tonks Prize for drawing in his final year. While there, he also exhibited in the Young Contemporaries exhibitions, and met both Ben Levene, who became a lifelong friend and fellow Royal Academician, and Mary CozensWalker, who became his fiancée and muse. A bursary from the French Government enabled him to spend the year 1960-61 in Paris and Châteauroux. On his return to London, in 1961, he married Mary, and in the following year established himself with his first solo show, held at his first dealer, the Rowan Gallery. At the same time, he returned to the Slade as a teacher (1962-63, 1964-66), and became a member of the London Group (1964). His expressionistic early work displayed the influence of Chaïm Soutine and Jean Dubuffet.
On receipt of a Harkness Fellowship in 1967, Green spent two years in the United States, living in Leonia, New Jersey, and Altadena, California. During this time, he began to work from memory, a process that resulted in complex figurative works on a large scale. These soon became a regular feature of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, at which Green first showed in 1966. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1971, and a full Academician in 1977, the year in which he won the Exhibit of the Year Award at the Summer Exhibition. Then, in 1978, his work became the subject of a touring show that began at Rochdale Art Gallery. Many domestic and international solo exhibitions followed, including a tour of Japan in 1987-88, and a tour of British cathedrals in 1999-2000.
Elected a member of the New English Art Club in 2002, Green has also become an honorary member of both the RBA (1998) and ROI (2004). Other honours include his election as a Fellow of University College (1991) and Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge (2015), and the award of an honorary doctorate by the University of Buckingham (2011). Since 1990, Green has lived in Little Eversden, Cambridgeshire.
His work is represented in numerous public collections, including Tate. Further reading Martin Bailey (ed), A Green Part of the World: Paintings by Anthony Green, London: Thames and Hudson, 1984; Anthony Green: Flowers, Clouds, Corsets and a Cactus, London: Richmond Hill Gallery, 2010
61
86 California III Signed and dated 1968 Signed twice, and inscribed with title, medium, dimensions in inches and ‘Painted in California’ on reverse Stamped ‘Rowan Gallery’ on stretcher Oil on shaped board 81 x 72 inches
‘Anthony Green makes large, irregularly shaped pictures, in oil paint on battened, primed boards. In love, in Paris, on a French government scholarship, and soon to return to marry Miss Cozens-Walker, our hero resolved to paint about his virginity and married love, rather than art about art. He would make his contribution to Modernism by telling his small private story in pictures – la petite histoire par un petit maître – simply a little history by a jobbing artist. Figurative art would still be relevant.The pictures in his mind’s eye had no edges. His compositions need not be traditional rectangles. His first shaped painting was made in 1964, influenced by images seen in Early Italian Gothic arches and French Romanesque tympanums. Perhaps his developing compositions might have irrelevant perimeters? Paintings fashioned by the multiplicity of pictures in his memory. Art would simply serve his needs.’ (A statement produced by Anthony Green for the New English Art Club’s new website)
87 Good Morning Mary Green Signed, inscribed twice with title, medium, hanging instructions and ‘Painted in California’, and dated ‘March 1969’ on reverse Oil on shaped board 83 x 93 inches Provenance: Rowan Gallery, London; Galerie Brusberg, Hannover
59
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:08 Page 62
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:32 Page 63
62
Summ
63
88 Parliament Hill II Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches, and dated ‘November December 1970’ on reverse of left-hand board Oil on two boards Each measuring 90 x 48 inches, 90 x 96 inches overall Provenance: Rowan Gallery, London; Galerie Brusberg, Hannover Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1971, no 355
89 The Chestnut Tree Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches, and dated ‘May 1972’ on reverse Stamped ‘Rowan Gallery’ on stretcher Oil on shaped board 82 x 72 inches
64
63
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:32 Page 64
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:08 Page 65
Summ
91 A Vase of Sunflowers Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches and centimetres, and dated 2009 and ’09 on reverse Oil on shaped board with supporting brass screws 43 x 45 inches Exhibited: New English Art Club, Annual Open Exhibition, 2014
92 The London Studio, 1964-66 Signed, inscribed with title and dated 2010 on reverse Oil on shaped board 50 x 67 1⁄2 inches Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 2012, no 1361
64
65
90 Passion IV Signed and dated ’82 Signed, inscribed with title, dimensions in inches and hanging instructions, and dated ‘Painted in 1982’ on reverse Oil on shaped board 63 x 63 inches Provenance: Juda Rowan Gallery, London
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:33 Page 66
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:33 Page 67
95 A White Tureen of Blue Hydrageas in front of a Green Painting Signed twice, inscribed with title and dimensions in centimetres, and dated 2013 on reverse Oil on shaped board 26 3⁄4 x 27 3⁄4 x 1 1⁄2 inches Exhibited: New English Art Club, Annual Open Exhibition, 2015
66
94 Night Reflections and a Vase of Flowers Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches, and dated 2013 on reverse Oil on board 20 1⁄2 x 9 1⁄2 inches
93 A Modern Olympia II Signed and dated 2013 Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in centimetres, and dated 2012 on reverse Oil on board 59 x 54 1⁄4 inches Exhibited: London Group, 2013
96 Ux – Three Pots of Flowers Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches, and dated 2013 on reverse Oil on board 16 x 19 inches Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 2015, no 920
67
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:33 Page 68
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 08/05/2016 21:09 20:33 Page 69 70
100 Full Summer with Poppies Signed, inscribed with title and medium, and dated 2015 and ’15 on reverse Oil on shaped board with supporting brass rods 16 x 12 1⁄4 x 2 1⁄2 inches
97 Belgian Poppy with Artist’s Silhouette Signed, inscribed with title and medium, and dated 2015 and ’15 on reverse Oil on board 6 x 7 1⁄2 inches
68
98 Poppy – Dew or Raindrops? Signed, inscribed with title and medium, and dated 2015 on reverse Oil on board 6 x 7 inches
65
99 Poppies II Will You Marry Me Again and Again? Painted in June-July 2015 Signed, inscribed with title and dimensions in inches, and dated 2015 on reverse Oil on shaped board 28 x 59 3⁄4 inches
70
69
101 Poppies I Mary Dreaming, Anthony Gazing Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in inches, and dated 2015 on reverse Oil on shaped board 20 x 59 inches
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:33 Page 70
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:10 Page 71
Summ
SY D NEY HARPLEY Sydney Charles Harpley, RA FRBS (1927-1992) The work of Sydney Harpley always surprised and delighted: dancers, acrobats, girls on swings were posed and executed with equal audacity and elegance. Establishing the single female as his favourite subject while still a student, he rose to become the most popular sculptor, not only among Royal Academicians but among all who exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. For a biography of Sydney Harpley, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2015, page 67.
102 The Double Dipper Self Portrait Signed, inscribed with title and medium, and dated 2014 on reverse Construction in oil on board with supporting brass rods 11 3⁄4 x 13 x 7 1⁄2 inches Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 2015, no 512
The Chris Beetles Gallery represents the Estate of Sydney Harpley, and is currently preparing a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s sculpture for publication in the near future. The notes on the works by Sydney Harpley are written by Fiona Nickerson. This selection of Sydney Harpley’s work has been taken from the earlier part of his oeuvre. It traces the evolution of his work from early but lasting inspirations of the Tanagra figurines of Ancient Greece, the Renaissance and Impressionism through the experimentation of modern abstraction to his focused and enduring love of the single female figure. From 1953 to 1956, Harpley studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art under John Skeaping. During this period, he developed a particular interest in Donatello’s raw, unclassical realism, as seen in his Enfolded Nude [109]. The single female figure was further reinterpreted from more recent masters. Rodinesque [110] was inspired by Kneeling Fauness, a figure on Auguste Rodin’s monumental sculptural group, Gates of Hell. Nude Turning [108] evolved from the self-absorbed bathers, so sensitively drawn by Edgar Degas. By the late 1950s, Harpley’s popularity soared and he produced many commissions, including two for the London County Council and the monumental memorial to Jan Christian Smuts in Cape Town.
70
103 50 Years Ago Then and Now Signed, inscribed with title, medium and dimensions in centimetres, and dated ‘1963, then 2014’ on reverse Construction in oil on board with supporting brass rods 13 3⁄4 x 12 3⁄4 x 12 1⁄4 inches Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 2015, no 513
In 1963, Harpley was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. A short period of experimentation followed, in which rough, tough male figures, replaced his typical solitary women. Elemental power – inspired by the strength of Michelangelo and abstracted forms by Henry Moore – resulted in a series of power struggles encapsulated in tortuous rugby and football tackles. These were exhibited in South Africa in 1964 and 1965, and later discussed in an article by Robert Wraight in the first edition of Sculpture International in 1966 (pages 3335, 48-50). This uncompromising style was abandoned by Harpley shortly afterwards and reflects the intense distress that he felt during the time of his divorce in 1965. By the second half of the 1960s, he was again embracing the beauty, solitude and introspection of the single female figure, a passion he would continue, with enormous public acclaim, until his premature death in 1992.
104 Girl Combing her Hair Signed and numbered A/P Bronze, 6 inches high Artist’s proof from an edition of twelve Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1959, no 1507; Lane Gallery, Bradford, 1964, no 23 This is the maquette for a life-size sculpture [above], of an edition of three, which Sydney Harpley exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, 1957, no 1366.
71
72
71
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:10 Page 72
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:10 Page 73
Summ
Sydney Harpley in his London studio, with the life-size version of Young Woman Undressing to the left Sydney Harpley in South Africa In 1961, Sydney Harpley won the commission for the Memorial to Field Marshall Jan Christian Smuts, which was unveiled in September 1964 and still sits outside the South African National Gallery in the Company’s Garden, Cape Town. He went on to have two highly successful exhibitions in South Africa, at the Society of Arts, in 1964, and at the Adler Fielding Galleries, in 1965.
72
73 107 Early Dancer Signed and numbered A/P Bronze 5 1⁄4 inches high Artist’s proof from an edition of twelve
105 The Rugby Tackle Signed on travertine base Bronze 13 inches high Circa 1963 The Rugby Tackle In 1964, Sydney Harpley exhibited 60 drawings and sculptures at the Society of Arts, Cape Town. The sculptures included a series of abstracted rugby and football tackles, of which the present work is possibly one. During the early 1960s, Harpley was absorbed in trying to represent the Michelangelesque power of abstracted male figures as caught in a scrum or tackle, and he revelled in the tangle of arms and legs, and the controlled but explosive energy that they exuded.
106 Young Woman Undressing (opposite) Bronze 5 1⁄2 inches high Circa 1962-65 A sculpture with this title was exhibited at the Adler Fielding Galleries, Johannesburg, in September 1965.
108 Nude Turning Signed and numbered 1/8 Bronze 10 1⁄2 inches high Number one from an edition of eight Circa 1958
74
73
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:10 Page 74
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:10 Page 75
Summ
111 Female Nude Signed and numbered 1/9 Bronze 8 inches long Number one from an edition of nine Circa 1960
112 Sunbather II Signed and numbered 1/12 Bronze 4 3⁄4 inches long Number one from an edition of twelve
74
75 113 Nude Study 1970 Signed and numbered 7/9 Bronze 14 inches long Number seven from an edition of nine Exhibited: Royal Academy, Summer Exhibition, 1970, no 768; Duncalfe Fine Art, Harrogate Festival Exhibition, 1985, no 10 (or no 13)
109 Enfolded Nude Signed and numbered 1/9 Bronze 14 1⁄2 inches high Number one from an edition of nine Circa 1958
110 Rodinesque Signed and numbered A/P Bronze 4 inches high Artist’s proof from an edition of ten 1965
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 08/05/2016 20:34 Page 76
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout pp1-4.qxp_Layout 1 1 15/05/2016 15/05/2016 20:52 21:10 Page Page 2 77
J AM E S B UT L E R James Walter Butler, MBE RA FRBS RWA (born 1931) One of Britain’s foremost figurative sculptors, James Butler is well known for both his public commissions, large and small, and his personal compositions. Having gained a thorough grounding in carving early in his career, he then developed equal mastery as a modeller. He has since created many cherished monuments in Britain and abroad that stand securely in a tradition that can be traced from Donatello through Charles Sargeant Jagger to Giacomo Manzù. For a biography of James Butler, please refer to Chris Beetles Summer Show, 2015, pages 71-73. This selection of work by James Butler comprises three maquettes for large scale sculptures of iconic figures.
76
75
The original clay version of the life-size sculpture in James Butler’s Warwickshire studio Vincent Van Gogh James Butler produced his vital portrait of the painter, Vincent Van Gogh, for the Garden of Heroes and Villains, in Dorsington, Warwickshire, in 2002. The garden was established by the unconventional publisher, poet and philanthropist, Felix Dennis (1947-2014), and contains over 40 sculptures, including several by James Butler. The completed life-size work includes an easel and a chair, on which visitors can sit, allowing them to engage with the figure of Van Gogh, and even feel that they are being painted by him.
114 Vincent Van Gogh Signed Bronze 19 3⁄4 inches high From an edition of ten Maquette for the life-size sculpture commissioned by Felix Dennis for his garden of Heroes and Villains, Dorsington, Warwickshire, 2002
77
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:11 Page 78
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:11 Page 79
78
79 William Shakespeare James Butler’s eight-feet high bronze of William Shakespeare was commissioned by Tony Bird, a Stratford-upon-Avon businessman and benefactor to the town. Bird hoped to place it, in time to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, on a prominent position on a traffic island in Bridge Street, where it would be seen as people enter Stratford from the east. However, it still awaits an appropriate and accesible setting.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II In creating his sculpture of Queen Elizabeth II to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, James Butler found inspiration in the famous painted portraits by Pietro Annigoni, of 1954 and 1969. As a result, the serene and stately thirteen-feet high statue, representing the Queen in full garter robes, also does much to reflect more than a millennium of uninterrupted English monarchy.
Very much a speaking likeness, Butler’s sculpture shows Shakespeare stepping forward with pen in one hand, script in the other, and open mouth, as if he were reciting a speech from one of his own plays – so combining his roles in the Elizabethan theatre as writer and actor. Its presence is such that it surely deserves to be well viewed in a conspicuous location and, if so, would be held in the public’s affection.
On 14 June 2015, John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, unveiled the statue at Runnymede, Surrey, close to the point at which King John agreed the Magna Carta. At the unveiling, Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary and MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, described it as an ‘excellent statue’ and ‘a fabulous statement to the Queen’.
115 William Shakespeare Signed Bronze 22 1⁄4 inches high From an edition of ten Maquette for the eight-feet high sculpture, commissioned by Tony Bird for a prominent site in Stratford-Upon-Avon, 2015
116 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II Signed Bronze 23 1⁄2 inches high From an edition of ten Maquette for the over life-size sculpture, at Runnymede Pleasure Ground, Surrey, commissioned to celebrate the 800th Anniversary of Magna Carta, 2015
Summer Show 2016 catalogue pp39-80.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:11 Page 80
Summer Show 2016 cover.qxp_Layout 1 15/05/2016 21:13 Page 1
CH R I S B E E TL E S SU MMER S H OW 2 01 6
8 & 10 Ryder Street, St James’s London SW1Y 6QB 020 7839 7551 gallery@chrisbeetles.com
www.chrisbeetles.com
C H R I S B E E T L ES LTD
CHRIS BEETLES GALLERY