Three Centuries of Alluring British Art on Paper at Christie's in December

Written by Rodney Miley Friday, 16 September 2011 00:13

 

LONDON.- Three centuries of British Art on Paper, exemplifying the dramatic power and also calm beauty captured in the best figure and landscape drawings, watercolours and rare pastels, are offered in Christie’s sale on Wednesday, 10 December 2008. Kick starting British Art Week, this auction features a remarkable range of over 90 drawings, many of which come fresh to the market with superb provenance from private collections, by the greatest masters of the genre. With estimates ranging from £1,500 to £300,000, the sale as a whole is expected to realize in the region of £1.5 million.

The figure is powerfully explored throughout the sale, in the context of both interiors and landscapes. A leading highlight, which uses an interior as the compositional setting for the narrative, is Simeon Solomon’s (1840-1905) ‘Pre-Raphaelite’ watercolour A Prelude by Bach (estimate: £200,000-300,000). Conveying an air of languid delicacy, this is arguably the finest painting by the artist to remain in private hands. It was executed in 1868 at the height of Solomon’s career when he formed part of the circle around Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), whose chalk drawing Study for the figure of Love in Dante's Dream, 1875, is offered with an estimate of £50,000-70,000. Inspired by Botticelli’s allegorical Primavera, this work by Solomon was originally exhibited as A Song of Spring, a theme reflected in the light floral blues, lilacs, yellows and whites employed. Depicting an audience of wistful beauties listening to performers, a motif of ‘Aesthetic Movement Art’ founded by Rossetti and developed by Albert Moore, this composition possesses a lyrical fluidity.

The landscapes offered are led by an early 19th century watercolour by John Martin (1789-1854), The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum: ‘The Tongues of Fire’ (estimate: £200,000-300,000). Dramatically depicting the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, Martin powerfully conveys the overpowering strength of nature. He utilises chiaroscuro lighting, broken effectively with the piercing white lightning of an electric storm. Compositionally combining a detailed foreground, with a collapsing temple and figures, and a smoky cloud filled sky and mountains in the middle-ground, he employs bold sweeping vertical brushstrokes to create foreboding ‘curtains’ which powerfully focus the eye inwards, theatrically framing the scene. This work is thought to have been executed in preparation for the monumental oil painting of the subject which is now at Tate Britain.

The second, Harvest – Evening, by George Clausen, R.A., R.W.S. (1852-1944) (estimate: £60,000-80,000) is captivating in a very different manner. Whilst the light is also soft and warm, the tone is one of masculine strength, with the farm worker representing the heroism of agricultural labour. Last offered at auction by Christie’s in 1979, this work was exhibited at the London Royal Institute of Painters in Water-colours in 1885.

Elsewhere, other landscapes include four Golden Age, early 19th century watercolours by Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. (1775-1851); the universally acknowledged master of watercolour and the ‘precursor of Impressionism’. These topographical landscapes include a further depiction of an electric storm, Lochmaben Castle, Dumfriesshire, Scotland (estimate: £60,000-80,000). Turner employs a myriad of pinks and blues to create a tempestuous sky, where extensive scratching out has been used to great effect to convey lightning. Offered from a private collection and first sold at Christie’s in 1901, this work is based on a drawing in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Sketchbook of 1831; it is an alternative study for Sir Walter Scott’s Poetical Works, published by Robert Cadell in 1833/4. Turner made two Scottish tours in connection with Scott in 1831 and 1834: the present drawing was probably executed on the first tour which included the Borders and extended to Staffa and Skye.

From the 20th century two important works which further celebrate the natural beauty of the British landscape are led by In the Fields, by Dame Laura Knight, R.A. (1877-1970) (estimate: £150,000-200,000). Capturing a warm and soft naturalistic light, which stands out from that of her classical counterparts Augustus John and Charles Sims, Knight’s watercolour has a freshness of palette and atmosphere. This is enhanced by both her stylistic freedom, using vigorous brushstrokes, and the visual freedom she affords with a low horizon showing the sea stretching into the distance beyond the graceful beauties that pause under the expansive, open sky.

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