Saturday, September 11, 2010

James Charles - Darby and Joan



Price Realized £26,290

indistinctly signed with monogram and dated '1893' (lower left)
oil on canvas
30¼ x 32 in. (78.1 x 81.3 cm.)


London, Royal Academy, 1882, no. 450.

The origins of the appelation 'Darby and Joan' are unclear, although for much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the phrase was used to humorously describe a husband and wife of advanced years and humble background who were overly attached and never happy out of each other's company.

This is a relatively early work for Charles, and an example of the French inspired 'square brush' technique that began to be seen on the walls of the Academy in the early 1880s. Having trained initially at the RA schools, Charles completed his studies in Paris at the Académie Julian. He exhibited in both London and Paris, and in addition to the Royal Academy supported the New Gallery, and the New English Art Club. According to Graham Reynolds he was one of the first to practise plein-air painting in England. Reynolds considers 'his unpretentious and often charming studies of country life in England have never attained the reputation they deserve'.

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