Tuesday, August 24, 2010
(Sir) William Allan - The Stolen Child Recovered
1782-1850.
Price Realized £5,736
signed and dated 'Wm. Allan/1840' (lower right)
oil on panel
25½ x 39 in. (64.8 x 99 cm.)
The picture has only acquired this title in recent years, and it may be incorrect. Certainly it is not the work of this title that Allan exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1842; this is now in the Aberdeen Art Gallery and is a different composition. A picture with the same title that Allan showed at the Royal Academy, London, in 1841 may also be the one at Aberdeen. He exhibited at both venues for many years, and became president at the RSA in 1838.
Allan was a friend of Wilkie from the time when they were fellow students at the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, and this picture, painted a year before Wilkie's death, is very much in his tradition. Although he sports a kilt, the seated figure's head-dress and profile seem almost Circassian, reminding us that Allan went to Russia in 1805 and spent several years in the Ukraine and Turkey. These travels provided subjects for many of his future pictures.
(Sir) James Dromgole Linton - The Page
1840-1916.
Price Realized £2,629
signed with monogram (overmounted)
pencil and watercolour, heightened with touches of white and with gum arabic
13 3/8 x 8 3/8 in. (34 x 21.3 cm.)
Linton was predisposed to paint large, crowded history scenes, filling his canvases with rich fabrics and expansive compositions reminiscent of Veronese, whom he greatly admired. The solitary page in the present painting shares in the mood of Linton's grand costume dramas but is also a sensitive portrait of a young boy.
George Lance - A Monkey in a Market
Price Realized £9,799
signed and dated 'G Lance/1858' (lower right) and with inscription 'This picture was presented to me by George Lance 1859.' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
12 x 10 in. (30.5 x 25.4 cm.)
This picture is characteristic of the exotic still-life pictures for which Lance was best known, although Lance also painted a number of figure subjects, which reflected his seven-year training under Benjamin Robert Haydon, who imbued him with a profound respect for 'history painting'. Among his patrons was Robert Vernon (1774-1849), whose bequest to the National Gallery included a number of characteristic works. After Lance's death his studio sale was held at Christie's on 27 May 1873.
Alfred Edward Chalon - Study for 'Automne' - after Rubens
1780-1860.
Price Realized £4,541
signed and dated 'AE Chalon R.A./1848' (lower right)
oil on panel
11 5/8 x 19¼ in. (29.5 x 48.9 cm.)
The present picture is a study for the picture of the same title which Chalon exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848 (no. 532).
Chalon, who was the younger brother of the landscape, genre and animal painter John James Chalon, R.A. (1778-1854) was particularly fashionable as a painter of portraits in watercolour and was appointed Portrait Painter to the Queen on Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. This picture shows another facet of the artist's talent - his ability to imitate the styles of the Old Masters, in this instance that of Rubens.
Monday, August 23, 2010
National Galleries of Scotland to Celebrate the Work of William McTaggart
[William McTaggart, Study for the Painting ‘Dawn at Sea. Homewards’ c.1891. Watercolour and bodycolour over charcoal on paper: 28.60 x 39.80 cm. National Gallery of Scotland]
EDINBURGH.- This year marks the centenary of the death of William McTaggart, one of Scotland’s best-loved artists. The National Gallery of Scotland will celebrate his life and work with a small exhibition featuring over 25 stunning watercolours, small oil paintings and compositional studies as well as a selection of rarely seen personal memorabilia.
William McTaggart has long been regarded as one of the most outstanding and innovative Scottish artists. He was the son of a crofter, born near Aros in Kintyre on the west coast of Scotland and, unlike many of his contemporaries, he chose to work almost exclusively in Scotland. His native land was a constant source of inspiration and provided him with a wealth of subject matter – everyday scenes of fishing communities, breathtaking views of the ocean, and sheltered bays along the Scottish coast all feature heavily in his work. His pictures have a strong emotional content linking people with nature, such as children playing in the surf, fishermen battling with storms or emigrants setting sail for America.
Highlights of the exhibition include studies for some of McTaggarts best known oil paintings such as a delicate pencil study for Spring and an atmospheric study in watercolour for Dawn at Sea. Homewards. There will also be a selection of rarely seen personal memorabilia including the artist’s paint palette, brushes, sketchbooks and Royal Scottish Academy medals. Touching photography from the McTaggart family album will also be on display depicting his true inspiration – his family and surroundings.
The exhibition will be complemented by a small display which will examine McTaggart’s early artistic training at Edinburgh College of Art and features rare studies made by McTaggart when he was a young student.
http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=40135
[William McTaggart, Two Children Paddling, Dated 1877 (detail). Watercolour and bodycolour on paper: 35.50 x 53.20 cm. National Gallery of Scotland]
Thomas Stothard - Sylvia and the Outlaws: a Scene from Shakespeare's 'Two Gentlemen of Verona'
Price Realized £10,755
with indistinct signature (lower left)
oil on canvas
27½ x 20 5/8 in. (69.9 x 52.4 cm.)
The scene is taken from the climax of Shakepeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona which was probably written circa 1592-3 although it is not known to have been performed before the Restoration.
The two Gentlemen of Verona are the friends Valentine and Proteus. Proteus leaves Verona, and his original love Julia, for Milan, where he falls in love with the Duke of Milan's daughter Sylvia. Proteus, who has meanwhile exchanged a vow of constancy with Julia, also goes to Milan where he too falls in love with Sylvia. Betraying both his friend and his former love, Proteus informs Sylvia's father of Valentine's plan to elope with her and as a result Valentine is banished and joins the outlaws which allows Proteus to continue to court Sylvia. Julia meanwhile, pining for Proteus, comes to Milan, dressed as a boy, and becomes Proteus's page without him realising. while Sylvia, to escape an arranged marriage, leaves Milan to rejoin Valentine but is captured by the outlaws from whom she is rescued by Proteus. This composition shows this late moment in the play, soon after Valentine has arrived on the scene; Proteus, to the left of the composition, is struck by remorse and his contrition is such that Valentine is impelled to surrender Sylvia to him. However, the evident dismay of Proteus's page [Julia] at this turn of events leads to Julia's recognition by Proteus whose love for her is rekindled by her constancy.
Thomas Stothard, who lived in London, was the most prolific book illustrator of his day and a contributor to Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery and the Poetic and the Historic Galleries of Bowyer and Macklin. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1794 and was very active in its service. In its handling, this picture is characteristic of Stothard's smaller oil studies.
Telling Stories Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Speilberg
Not my period but ..
from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Speilberg, which showcases more than 50 paintings by the famed American artist from Lucas and Speilbergs private collections, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington.
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