http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/j/julia-margaret-cameron-collection-highlights/
and some really good news about the collection
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Mackintosh Jewellery/Brooch inspired by the House for an Art Lover
This design is modelled on Charles Rennie Mackintosh's drawings for the House for an Art Lover - which was recently built in Bellahouston Park in Glasgow. This beautiful piece of silver is 2" high.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh - Alder Catkins, Walberswick
titled and dated l.c.: ALDER CATKINS / WALBERSWICK/ 1914/ CRM/ MMM
watercolour and pencil
26 by 20cm.; 10¼ by 8in.
ESTIMATE 6,000-8,000 GBP
Lot Sold: 15,625 GBP
Friday, October 7, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
John Melhuish Strudwick - In the Golden Days
signed and inscribed with the artist's address on an old label attached to the reverseoil on canvas
65 by 45cm.; 26 by 18in.
1907
ESTIMATE 200,000-300,000 GBP
Lot Sold: 241,250 GBP
Steven Kolsteren, 'The Pre-Raphaelite Art of John Melhuish Strudwick (1849-1937)', The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Studies, vol. I: 2, Fall 1988, p.8 and 12 no. 3 in the checklist of paintings by Strudwick (marked 'present whereabouts unknown')
How sad it were for Arthur, should he live,
To sit once more within the lonely hall,
And miss to hear high talk of noble deeds
As in the golden days before thy sin.'
TENNYSON, IDYLLS OF THE KING
Of all the painters who formed the late nineteenth-century manifestation of romantic Pre-Raphaelitism, a movement which owed much to the example of Edward Burne-Jones and more remotely to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Melhuish Strudwick is the most remarkable. Because he painted so slowly, and in such a meticulous style which he
never attempted to adapt or simplify so as to be less technically exacting, he is represented by a small but precious corps of works. The present painting which was exhibited at the New Gallery in 1907, his last exhibit there, exemplifies
the essential qualities of refinement and other-worldliness of his art. Strudwick was preoccupied by the subject of passing time or of an imagined golden age, from Passing Days of 1878 (sold in these rooms, 10 November 1981, lot 39), The Gentle Music of a Bygone Day of 1889 (private collection) and When Apples were Golden and Songs were
Sweet, But Summer had Passed Away of 1906 (Manchester City Art Gallery). As Steven Kolsteren has pointed out; 'Strudwick's private dreamworld is not a perfect hiding place, being continually affected by time and decay' (Steven Kolsteren, 'The Pre-Raphaelite Art of John Melhuish Strudwick (1849-1937)', The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Studies, vol. I: 2, Fall 1988, p.8)
The subject shows three beautiful female figures in a medieval chamber at the bottom of a staircase. On the left sits a damsel clad in rose-coloured robes playing a type of archaic lute, whilst beside her, dressed in green is a second girlholding a song-book. A third girl, dressed in a darker red robe, lifts a veil from her ear and stoops forward to listen to the music played by the other two figures. At the side of the girl dressed in green are pale wild roses growing over a knight's shield, reminiscent of Burne-Jones' Briar Rose series of pictures painted in the 1880s (Buscot Park, Oxfordshire). The title is taken from Tennyson's Idylls of the King from the part of the poem where Guinevere talks of her regret of her sins and desire to return to the idyllic time of her youth. The central figure dressed in green may
therefore depict the young Guinevere, attended by two of her companions before she had met Arthur or Lancelot. The crown depicted on the bronze salver behind her and the lions rampant and Fleur-de-Lis on the heraldry probably relate to King Arthur whilst the knight carrying a golden sword and being crowned by angels, depicted in the panel above the window, is clearly the king her future husband holding Excalibur.
The wild roses possibly relate to the illicit love of Lancelot.
In the Golden Days contains one of the central themes of the English Aesthetic Movement, the sense of sound evoked by the musical subject. The work follows in a similar vein to Summer Songs of 1901 (sold in these rooms, 13 December 2005, lot 23) which similarly depicts a group of girls making music. Strudwick had also painted a series of various St Cecilia subjects in the late 1890s (Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead and elsewhere). As John Christian has written, 'Like Burne-Jones, Strudwick loved to paint compositions in which a mood
of wistful sadness is evoked by a group of female figures playing musical instruments' (The Last Romantics- The Romantic Tradition in British Art- Burne Jones to Stanley Spencer, exhibition catalogue, 1989 (under the discussion of Strudwick's 1897 St Cecilia), p.94).
A crucial formative experience in Strudwick's move towards a style of art of technical refinement and aesthetic subtlety occurred in the early 1870s when he was employed as a studio assistant first by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope and then by Burne-Jones. Strudwick's works were repeatedly rejected by the Royal Academy and his professional prospects were uncertain.
However, in 1876 his painting Song without Words (sold in these rooms, 8 June 1993, lot 22) did gain admission (it was in fact his only contribution to the Royal Academy summer exhibitions in his entire career). The work caused a great stir among those who were curious to know how such a quaint and yet technically demanding work could have been undertaken by an otherwise unheard of artist. According to George Bernard Shaw, who wrote the article about Strudwick which is the principal source of information about the artist, the sale of Song without Words marked the critical
turning-point in the painter's fortunes. He 'promptly hired a studio for himself; and since that time his vocation as an artist has never been challenged. There is no such thing as an unsold picture by Strudwick; and so the story of his early struggles may be said to end there' ('J.M. Strudwick', Art Journal, 1891, pp.97-101).
In reply to the accusation that Strudwick was merely an imitator of an historical style of painting, Shaw wrote: 'There is nothing of the fourteenth century about his work except that depth of feeling and passion for beauty which are common property to all who are fortunate enough to inherit them'. His paintings are highly sophisticated expressions of an anti-Utilitarian counter-culture in the late Victorian world, and were esteemed for their complete indifference to all that was modern, or indeed distinctly of any age.
Sothebys 2011
John William Waterhouse - The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius
signed l.r.: J.W.W.
oil on board
20 by 28cm.; 7¾ by 11in.
ESTIMATE 3,000-5,000 GBP
Lot Sold: 10,000 GBP
This is an early sketch for Waterhouse's painting of 1883 (Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide), the first of his pictures to be bought by a public art gallery. It is thought to be an illustration to Wilkie Collins' novel Antonina; or, The
Fall of Rome written in 1850. The Favourites of the Emperor Honorius depicts the emperor Honorius (reigned 395-423A.D.) at his palace at Ravenna, idly feeding his pet guinea-fowl and doves with little regard for his besieged people at Rome. In the background is the figure of an imperial guard and the sketched figures of Honorius' courtiers.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Angeli Laudantes
Morris & Co Merton Abbey tapestry designed by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Bt, ARA, RWS (British 1833-1898), with details by John Henry Dearle (British 1860-1932), woven for Mr. Charles S Goldman, October 1898.
Woven by John Martin, Robert Ellis and Merritt, tapestry weavers at Merton Abbey Works
tapestry in dyed wool and silk on undyed cotton warp, with cotton backing
232 x 202 cm. (91 1/2 x 79 1/2 in.)
Sold for £184,800 inclusive of Buyer's Premium
Provenance:
Major Charles Sydney Goldman, M.B.E. commissioned from Morris and Co.;
Commander Penryn Victor Monck, younger son of the above;
Rory Monck, son of the above.
Angeli Laudantes is a tour de force, a combination of William Morris (1834-96) and his friend Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) working hand in hand and one of a group of supreme tapestries to be woven by Morris and Co at Merton Abbey, Wandsworth. The old handicraft of tapestry weaving was one of a number of crafts that Morris revived; technically it was his greatest triumph and a true testament to the Arts and Crafts Movement. Although the company wove several versions of Angeli Laudantes and its companion Angeli Ministrantes, this tapestry appears to be the only one remaining in private hands. Furthermore there are only two of this size and specific design;1 the first, woven in 1894, was purchased four years later by the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it remains today. H.C. Marillier’s hand written account of the Merton tapestries2 notes that Charles Sydney Goldman owned both tapestries although interestingly this information did not appear in Marillier’s published account of the History of the Merton Abbey Tapestry Works of 1927. Marillier also recorded that Goldman’s tapestry dated to October 1898. Given that Goldman was to marry the Hon Agnes Mary Peel in February the following year it is possible that his tapestry was intended as a wedding gift for his new bride. Certainly the subject of the harp-playing angels with their multi-layered wings and sumptuous millefleurs background would have been perfectly fitting for such an event.
Angeli Laudantes and Angeli Ministrantes were originally conceived as designs for a pair of stained-glass lancet windows in the South Choir at Salisbury Cathedral. Listed in Morris and Co’s account book between March and August 1878, the cartoons for each were described as “4 colossal and sublime figures of Angels £20 ea[ch] £80.”3 In a discussion concerning Burne-Jones’s decorative work, Malcolm Bell cited “his admirable use of wings and drapery alone to secure a rich decorative effect, we may refer to the two splendid windows in Salisbury Cathedral, executed in 1879, the “Angeli Laudantes” and “Angeli Ministrantes”. In each are two figures only, in the first [Angeli Laudantes] harping upon harps of gold, in the second, [Angeli Ministrantes] pausing in the paths of mercy to rest awhile their weary sandal-shod feet, and bearing the palmer’s cloak marked with the cockle-shell of St. Jago, the pilgrim’s staff and bottle and bag of meal, but so elaborate is the modelling of the garments, so skilful the arrangement of the wings, that the whole heavenly host could not produce a more complete effect of well-filled space, without confusion, in which each line and shadow is full of interest and importance.”4
In 1897 Aymer Vallance noted “The Morris window in Salisbury Cathedral, designed by Burne-Jones, and representing groups of ministering and praising angels, has been mentioned already. The identical figures have since been adapted, in subdued blues and reds, with a dull but rich-coloured background of foliage and flowers, with borders, etc, and worked out in two panels of arras tapestry by Messrs. Morris and Co., and that with results so fine that the disquieting question perforce suggests itself whether these cartoons are not more appropriate to the latter medium.”5 Burne-Jones’s cartoons, referred to by Vallance, were given by Charles Fairfax-Murray to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, where they remain today. Highly worked in coloured chalks, the pairs of angels are the same size as those in the finished tapestries. It is possible that that the cartoons were used for the stained-glass windows but more likely they were re-workings by Burne-Jones for the tapestries. Burne-Jones’s cartoons were then adapted by Morris’s chief assistant and manager John Henry Dearle who took out an upper layer of the angels’ wings and added the intricate millefleurs grounds and the orange and scrolling acanthus leaf border (and a matching pomegranate border for Angeli Ministrantes). With few exceptions, all of Morris’s tapestries were designed by Burne-Jones, either for a specific tapestry or in this case derived from one of his stained-glass windows. At first Morris arranged the accessories but later, as in this case, these were orchestrated by Dearle.
As noted Goldman’s tapestry was the second version of this particular tapestry, the first of 1894 was woven in wool, silk and mohair and was of an identical design and almost the same size (the V. & A. version measuring 237.5 x 202 cm). It was purchased by the South Kensington Museum on the suggestion of its assistant keeper John Hungerford Pollen and the Earl of Carlisle. Its companion Angeli Ministrantes (measuring 241.5 x 200 cm), also woven in 1894, was purchased by Edwin Waterhouse of Feldmore, Surrey. It was subsequently in the Handley-Read Collection and later in 1993 was purchased by the V. & A. Of significance 1898, the year of Burne-Jones’s death was the year that the first Angeli Laudantes was purchased and also the year that Goldman’s tapestry was woven.
A number of later variations of both tapestries are known. Angeli Laudantes was repeated in 1902 for Mr Jordan6 while another with a single angel with a harp inscribed 'Alleluia' of 1904, is now in the Harris Art Gallery, Preston. As befitting such a subject the designs were particularly suited for ecclesiastical use. In 1902 a tapestry with a pair of single angels with harps was woven for All Saints Church Brockhampton in Herefordshire, and once again that design was repeated in 1904 for a private memorial. The following year both panels were adapted for large tapestries to hang in Eton College Chapel as a memorial for those who died in the Boer War7 They included the same pairs of angels but the backgrounds were altered to include a lower verdure of shields. Interestingly the latter appear to be the first panels to bear the weavers’ initials. So taken with the design of Angeli Laudantes, Lady Catherine Milnes Gaskell (1856-1935) embroidered a copy with additional medieval figures, which is now in Much Wenlock parish church.
Angeli Laudantes and Angeli Ministrantes were the most popular of the seven Morris tapestries adapted from existing Burne-Jones stained-glass windows. The first St. Cecilia and St. Agnes, woven in 1887 were exhibited the same year at the Manchester Centenary Exhibition. The nineteenth century revived interest for church furnishings was a good opportunity for Morris to secure new commissions. To this effect he noted in his sales catalogues “Tapestry is by far the most appropriate and beautiful form of decoration for a reredos or a blank wall space and is less costly for its size than a printing by a good artist would be.”
William Morris, whose name has become synonymous with some of the greatest textiles, considered tapestry to be the noblest of such techniques. It was also the first type of textile to capture his imagination when as a child he visited Queen Elizabeth Lodge in Epping Forest and saw “a room hung with faded greenery”. Later in 1854 whilst studying at Oxford he took a trip to France, returning the following year with Burne-Jones, where they viewed the medieval tapestries in many of the French cathedrals. Despite his early enthusiasm, Morris did not try the technique until many years later, probably because he first had to gain the artistic and technical expertise necessary for so complicated an art.
Self-taught using a late eighteenth century French manual, Morris began his first tapestry panel in 1879 upon a loom set up in his bedroom at Kelmscott House. However his early explorations were not put into commercial practise until 1881 when he moved his business to new premises at Merton Abbey. Situated on the banks of the River Wandle, the soft water was well suited for dyeing the silks and wools, the lighting was good and the abundance of flowers, in addition to those from Morris’s own garden, were used as subjects for the millefleurs backgrounds that Morris so admired in early Flemish hangings. Like the Flemish weavers Morris used an upright or haute lisse loom rather than the horizontal base lisse model. In this manner the weavers wove facing the back of the tapestry and were guided by looking through the warp threads at a mirror hanging in front of the work. This technique was the same as employed by the Gobelins Works, which Morris had visited in 1854 and that used at the Royal Windsor Tapestry Works, opened in 1876. Though Morris approved of their technique he was keen to avoid their repetitive copying of old designs preferring the greater artistic expression achieved by the fifteenth and sixteenth century Flemish weavers. To this effect comparisons can be drawn between Angeli Laudantes and The Three Fates, a sixteenth century Flemish tapestry (V. & A. Museum), not only are the poses of each figure very similar but also the intricate floral backgrounds.8
Much of the weaving was done by young boys, since Morris considered their ‘small flexible fingers’ more suitable for such an intricate skill. John Henry Dearle however kept a strict control of the work in progress and only permitted the more experienced to work on significant areas such as faces and hands. Marillier noted the names of the three more senior weavers involved in the creation of Goldman’s tapestry, namely John Martin, Robert Ellis and Merritt (who Marillier only referred to by his surname). John Martin, who was the first weaver to be employed after the firm moved to Merton Abbey, was with William Haines and William Elliman responsible for weaving the first Angeli Laudantes. He also worked on the first tapestries designed by Burne-Jones, Flora and Pomona of 1884-5 and later became the first tapestry restorer at the V. & A. He and Robert Ellis were two of the most experienced craftsmen involved in the Arthurian tapestry series for William Knox D’Arcy at Stanmore Hall, Middlesex and also worked with Merritt on the same series for George McCulloch (Birmingham Art Gallery).
Morris, the leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement, was keen to promote independent creativity and thus encouraged a degree of freedom during the weaving process. Thus inevitably one tapestry differed from another even though the design was identical. A comparison between the present work and its earlier counterpart in the V. & A. reveals slight variations; the present tapestry appears to include slightly warmer tones, for instance on the title banner, on the linings of the angels’ robes and on their flaming headdresses. Their faces also slightly differ so that here their eyes look more directly toward the viewer. However both exhibit the same high degree of finish including for instance shimmering silk threads within the angels’ haloes as well as an indefinable subtlety of graduating tones and colour and together demonstrate a mastery of technique that none would ever rival.
Literature:
Henry Currie Marillier, Notes on Tapestries, undated, unpublished, in the V.& A. textile department, p. 71, listing this work.
Henry Currie Marillier, History of the Merton Abbey Tapestry Works, 1927, p. 20 with reference to the example at the V & A and p. 33, listing this work.
Oliver Fairclough and Emmerline Leary, Textiles by William Morris & Co. 1861-1940, 1981, p. 108, with reference to this work.
Linda Parry, William Morris Textiles, 1983, p. 112 and 186, note 38 and p. 123, illustrating the first weaving of Angeli Laudantes of 1894 in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Linda Parry, editor, William Morris Exhibition Catalogue, 1996, p. 290, M. 125, with reference to this work.
Bonhams 2006
Monday, October 3, 2011
Lady Clementina Hawarden - 5, Princes Gardens, Clementina; Studies from Life c. 1863/4
Photograph depicting the artist's daughter Clementina wearing a white cotton skirt lying on a bed by a window with her head resting on her hand, her reflection in a mirror behind her. Clementina (1847-1901) models as an 'Odalisque', but of a curiously fractured and photographic kind.
5 Princes Gardens, interior: first floor, front: right window: screen: floor-boards: Clementina, in fancy dress (Orientalist style), eyes closed, reclining on draped divan, right hand on cheek. Beside divan are cheval-glass (which reflects left side of her torso, window and window-casement) and French-style side-table (on which are jug, epergne, plate, and easel-back mirror). Visible through window: balcony; houses south side of Princes Gardens (faintly).
The Hawardens bought a newly-built house near the South Kensington Museum in 1859 and Lady Hawarden used the first floor - normally principal reception rooms - as a photographic studio. Her models were chosen from her children. Here her daughter Clementina (1847-1901) models as an 'Odalisque', but of a curiously fractured and photographic kind.
Historical significance: The psychological complexity of Lady Hawarden's images of women has inspired modern viewers to interpret her work in terms of feminist issues. Ingrid Sischy has suggested intriguing parallels between Lady Hawarden's 'Photographic Studies' and the 'Untitled Film Stills' of Cindy Sherman (American, born 1954).
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