Friday 25 April 2008

London Original Print Fair. Note 3

Yesterday I went to see the London Original Print Fair at the back of the Royal Academy in Burlington Gardens. I had no great expectations of finding many sporting works, but the visit proved to be well worthwhile.



Hurrying past the mainly large and garish contemporary work on the ground floor, I climbed the stairs in search of more traditional engravings, and found a few of interest. The set of four Shooting engravings undertaken by the master craftsman William Woollet after paintings by George Stubbs are well known. Condition can be a problem since such prints have often endured more than 200 years hanging in damp and drafty passages - they were engraved between 1769 and 1771. I suspect I saw these prints at auction in Cirencester twelve months ago. Their condition was better than often found for engravings of their age, but not that marvellous. They had now been carefully cleaned and remained in their early frames. The hammer price for the set in the country barely covered the cost of a single plate in Burlington Gardens. That is how it goes, but the London price was fair in the circumstances. Each image has a rather lugubrious verse beneath it telling the story of the early morning start of the gentlemen setting out to the time of refreshment and counting their bag. The last line of the verse on Plate 1st. might gladden the heart of many an 'anti' today. The penultimate line refers to the dogs watching their masters preparing; the last runs: "Viewing each Master charge [load] the Murdering Gun"!



Among the many dealers' stands and hundreds if not thousands of prints, some lithographs by Robert Bevan (1865-1925) were the highlight for me. Some might quibble at describing Bevan as a sporting artist but before settling in London and becoming a founder member of the Camden Town Group he was hunting with Joseph Crawhall in Tangiers and later on Exmoor. His angular drawing of less than Thoroughbreds (Stella Walker, the late doyenne of sporting art writing, described his horses as being "of plebeian antecedents") and their attendants, at horse sales and in cab yards, are of remarkably animated animals and people. But it is his brilliant technique with the pencil, his tonal harmony and the freshness of each print that always strikes the eye and makes on want buy one - but then you could equally afford the whole set of four Stubbs' engravings for the same price! By coincidence I found on my return to Wiltshire that a friend had sent me a flyer for the recently published (Unicorn Press) Robert Bevan, from Gaugin to Camden Town, by Frances Stanlake. With 180 illustrations (125 in colour), I think I will have to be content with this book in place of an original print.

Monday 21 April 2008

The Bramshill Hunt. Note 2

Many sporting pictures tell an obvious story. Others, of which portraits form the majority are seemingly bland records. However, there may be more than meets the eye in their painting. A picture of Sir John Cope's, or The Bramshill Hunt, is one in the latter category. It was painted (and copied) by Edmund Havell (1819-1898), a member of a large family of artists headed by the watercolourist William Havell (1782-1857). Edmund Havell painted the Bramshill Hunt for Sir John Cope in 1837 when the artist was just eighteen years old. A version of this scene is about 37 x 58 inches in size and shows two mounted huntsmen, a groom holding a third horse, and three top-hatted gentlemen in full hunting rig standing on the broad steps of the entrance to Bramshill house, Hampshire. The men are said to be Sir John Cope, Mr Thomas Peers Williams and Captain Edward Gordon RN. Thirteen hounds are portrayed, and like the humans, seem very posed and static. When the painting was sold in New York in 1986 it was given a provenance as being in Lord Brocket's sale in 1952. This was not so.

The Brockett painting is 86 x 110 inches, and is described in an 1883 inventory of pictures at Bramshill as the: "Meet of Sir John Cope's Hounds at Bramshill, with a view of the front of the house, and portraits of Sir John Cope Bart., T. Peers Williams Esq., Gerrard Blisson Wharton Esq., and (sitting in a chair) John Warde, of Squerries [Kent] Esq. The servants, horses and hounds are all portraits, 1837."

The composition in the centre of each painting is the same, but the larger picture has had canvas added above and to the left (another huntsman and seven more gambolling hounds), and to the right (the seated John Warde and one more lively hound). Captain Edward Gordon has been replaced by Gerrard Wharton.

I am very grateful to a family relation in Scotland who sent me a transcript of a letter written by Edmund Havell sixty years after painting this picture, sent to Sir Anthony Cope in 1897. This explains the differences between the two pictures described:

"He [Sir John Cope] requested me to paint a group of himself, some friends, and horses, and hounds, Huntsman, 'Whips', Studgroom, at the front door of that beautiful piece of Architecture. When the picture was finished he was incensed to find the top of the screen [of the facade of the doorway], and the three crowns thereon, were not introduced. Explanations were to no avail, nothing could do but that the screen and crowns be shown. So the only alternative was to enlarge the picture, originally it was about 40 x 50 inches. It was enlarged to its prsent size. The architecture added and also another friend introduced, a Mr James [sic] Ward (sitting in a chair in the foreground). The enlarging business was clumsily done, and I fear the 'join' shows in an unsightly manner. I think I dated the picture 1838 [in fact, 1837]. ........................................... When I painted the big picture I was an uneducated artist 18 years of age, and I know that the picture as a work of art, is only too dreadful."

I believe Havell must have painted the smaller picture (copying his original composition) for one of the three gentlemen standing on the steps - perhaps Captain Gordon or Gerrard Wharton. He also painted another view of the Bramshill Hunt, this time in the park with the house in the background. This painting was commissioned by Peers Williams, with Captain Gordon re-appearing in place of Wharton.

Some years ago I was given the opportunity to see the large picture, decribed by its owner as being in a sad state - as foreseen by Havell. Unfortunately I did not take up the offer then. Recently I bought a near contemporary pencilled 'key' for this painting. It is a copy, and the name of its author has been half-scrubbed off its back. Sadly I have now lost contact with the present owner of the large 'Bramshill Hunt', but would happily give my key for an opportunity to see the painting that has given me so much interest.

Thursday 17 April 2008

Sporting Art. Note 1

This is the first of occasional Sporting Art Notes (Note 1) blog, and therefore experimental. Apart from what I have written in my profile, one of the purposes of future blogs is to keep in touch with anybody interested in sporting painting, prints or artists (mainly British). There will be questions, comments and the dissemination of unpublished material - and I hope some feedback. The final direction remains to be seen. A few with similar interests may recognize the writer, but I would prefer to keep it impersonal.

Have just attended a two-day meeting arranged by the British Sporting Art Trust near Matlock, Derbyshire. This was orientated towards carriage and coaches, their painters and drivers (whip, is the correct term, I am told). The first afternoon comprised four short talks on the artists James Pollard, Charles Cooper Henderson and Lynwood Palmer (th most prominent and successful of 'coaching artists'), and on the history of carriages and coaching in Ireland. There was also a short quiz on a number of coaching artifacts ranging from 18th C. bits and bridles to copper footwarmers: the winner scored 17 out of 20 which was good going. In the evening there was a dinner followed by an entertaining description of the work of the Royal Mews by the recently retired head coachman. The following day we visited the fascinating Red House Stables Carriage Museum at Darley Dale followed by a coach ride to Chatsworth. The weather was kind and the two days very enjoyable. For future sporting art visits cross-reference to the British Sporting Art Trust website.

I hope it will be possible to see the restored painting of what appeared to be a roan horse (perhaps that was just the stained varnish) by George Stubbs recently sold for a modest £44,000, due to its sad condition. Dated 1786, this was quite an early work. Given time, restorers can work wonders, but I hope it does not become too shining bright!