Tuesday, June 29, 2010

George Owen Wynne Apperley - self portrait



Signed and inscribed ‘Painted by himself at Bushey in the year AD 1915. His age 31’;
watercolour and bodycolour; 20 × 16 ins
Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1916, no. 1000.

George Owen Wynne Apperley is a forgotten English watercolourist of some
considerable talent, as shown here in this extraordinary self-portrait painted in 1915.

Apperley was a descendant of ‘Nimrod’, the sporting journalist. He attended Hubert
von Herkomer’s art school in Bushey, Hertforshire. Indeed it was at Bushey where
Apperley painted this self-portrait at the age of 31, when he returned to live there in 1913, following the death of a daughter, the illness of a son and his own poor
health. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1905, and his first one-man show
was in the following year. In 1907 he married and lived in Hampstead, travelling
twice yearly to paint on the Continent.

In addition to painting, Apperley also composed a musical, The Flying Man, based on
the exploits of Blériot, and he appeared on the music hall stage.

In 1916, the year after he painted this extraordinary self-portrait, he was advised to go to Spain for his health – and he never returned. He first lived in Granada, and
then at the Villa Apperley, Tangier, with a Spanish gypsy. He had numerous
exhibitions in Spain and was awarded the order of Alfonso X el Sabio in 1945. He
painted figures, mythological subjects, landscapes and town views. He was a fine
draughtsman, as shown here in this watercolour with its highly detailed interior.

3 comments:

Henry (Riki) Apperley said...

Nice article about my father but my mother Enriqueta was NOT a gypsy. My father painted many gypsies and also my mother in flamenco attire, hence the incorrect information which originates from an article in the English press during that time.

Henry (Riki) Apperley

www.apperley-art.com

Henry (Riki) Apperley said...

G.O.W. Apperley forgotten? Certainly not! Demand for his works and auctions worldwide speaks for itself.

Henry (Riki) Apperley

www.apperley-art.com

Hermes said...

I was sent this by Chtistie's - I appreciate the corrections. Wonderful painting.