Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)

Kathleen, bronze 1935 at Bristol Art Gallery


We recently visited Bristol Art Gallery and saw this statue of Kathleen, Epstein's second wife worked in 1935. This is the fifth of seven portrait statues of her that Epstein made and we have the second, completed in 1922, thirteen years earlier. Epstein met Kathleen Garman (1901-1979) at the Harelquin Club in 1921 and she posed for him the next day. She became his lover and later his wife. The Bristol statue is based on Renaissance artist Verrocchio's Portrait of a Lady in Florence. It reveals Epstein's fascination with historic European art as well as wider global art forms.

Epstein described the process of making in his book Let There Be Sculpture ...a quartet of harmonies, ...head, shoulders, body and hands, like music. 










Jacob Epstein (1880-1959)

Second Portrait of Kathleen 1922 at Richard Taylor Fine Art

This stunning British bronze sculpture is by world famous sculptor Sir Jacob Epstein. It was conceived in 1922 and is the second portrait of Kathleen Garman (1901-1979), Epstein's lover then later second wife (in 1955 after his first wife Margaret's death) and mother of three of his children. It was made the year after they began a relationship and Kathleen was Epstein's model and mistress. His first wife, Margaret, tolerated Epstein's affairs and even raised his two other children but in 1923, Margaret invited Kathleen to her house and shot her in the shoulder with a pearl-handled pistol. Epstein paid Kathleen's hospital bills and persuaded her not to press charges against Margaret, lest it erupt into a public scandal. This beautiful bronze work depicts Kathleen, mouth open, looking directly at Epstein and the viewer, her hair flowing down behind her shoulders. The green patina is stunning and the carving true to the material. There is another sculpture of Kathleen much later in 1935 now at Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery. This is a superb sculpture and an excellent example of Epstein's work, especially in relation to Kathleen at the beginning of a lifelong love.

Signed to sitter's left shoulder

Provenance Sale, Sotheby's, London, 9 July 1969, lot 105.

Click the link below for more details of this work. 
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/epstein/second-portrait-of-kathleen-1922

Sylvia Gosse (1881-1968)

Dieppe, Moules Frites - Bristol Art Gallery

Oil on canvas, undated. 

We recently went to Bristol Art Gallery and saw this lovely Sylvia Gosse painting and also have one as seen below. 

'It would be easy to label Miss Gosse as the pupil of Walter Sickert. But these works show that she is much more than that... Mr Sickert has only communicated to her some of his own virtues'. The Times. 

From childhood Gosse knew she wanted to be an artist. She met Sickert and the two became lifelong friends, with Gosse buying a home in Dieppe when Sickert moved there. They ran the Sickert and Gosse School of Painting and Etching from Rowlandson House in Camden Town, London. With its shady palette Moules Frites is typical of the observations Gosse and Sickert made in Camden and elsewhere. The sliver of light gives a sense of viewing the narrow street through a keyhole.  

Purchased by Bristol Art Gallery in 1950. 





Laura Sylvia Gosse (1881-1968)

Envermeu France - Richard Taylor Fine Art

This lovely British 1920's town landscape is by noted female artist Sylvia Gosse who was a lifelong friend of Walter Sickert and his influence can be seen. It was exhibited at the Atkinson Art Gallery in Southport around 1926. The painting is a landscape of Envermeu in France. Envermeu is a town of light industry and farming situated in the valley of the Eaulne river, in the Pays de Caux, some 10 miles (16 km) east of Dieppe and Gosse had a house in Dieppe, moving there to be nearer to Sickert. The colours in the sky and the detail and brushwork are superb and this is an excellent example of her work. 

Signed lower right.  

Provenance Exhibited Southport Atkinson Art Gallery

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/laura-sylvia-gosse/envermeu-france

We are so lucky to own not one but two gorgeous paintings by Robert Macaulay Stevenson. I couldnt declide which I preferred so here they both are. Which do you like best? 

Robert Macaulay Stevenson (1854-1952)

Moonlit River Landscape

This stunning Scottish Impressionist Victorian landscape oil painting is by noted Glasgow Boy artist Robert Macaulay Stevenson. Painted circa 1899 the composition is a rising moon over a river landscape. The theme is one close to Stevenson's heart, a moonlit river landscape with wispy Impressionist trees and wonderful reflections. The shades of purple and lilac with the vibrant green and reflections on the water are just beautiful. This is an excellent example of a Glasgow Boy artist's work and a wonderful Victorian
Impressionist landscape. His works are housed in the Glasgow
Boys collection at Kelvingrove Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland.

Signed lower right.

Provenance Shropshire estate. 

Click the link below for more details on this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/robert-macaulay-stevenson/moonlit-river-landscape




Robert Macaulay Stevenson (1854-1952)

Wooded River Landscape at Dusk

This atmospheric exhibited Scottish Impressionist Victorian landscape oil painting is by noted Glasgow Boy artist Robert Macaulay Stevenson. Painted circa 1899 the theme is one close to Stevenson's heart, a moonlit river landscape with wispy Impressionist trees and wonderful reflections. No one can do it better. The vibrant greens in the foreground and reflections on the water are just beautiful. This is an excellent example of a Glasgow Boy artist's work and would not look out of place in a museum. Indeed similar examples are housed in Kelvingrove Glasgow Art Gallery. The painting was sold via the dealership of Alex Reid one of the most famous art dealers of the 19th century and this painting retains his label verso. His portrait by Vincent van Gogh
is also on view in Kelvingrove Gallery.

Signed lower left.

Provenance Exhibited: Palace of the Arts, Empire Exhibition,
Scotland, Bellahouston Park, 1938, no.552, repr. b/w p.42.
Presented by Mrs Fergus Morton and Mrs J. W. H. Gow, 1937.
Alex Reid label verso.

Click the link below for more details on this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/robert-macaulay-stevenson/wooded-river-landscape-at-dusk
 

Walter Langley (1852-1922)

The Evening of Life - Interior Portrait

This stunning, large British Edwardian Newlyn School interior portrait oil painting is by much noted and exhibited artist Walter Langley. Originally from Birmingham, Langley and his family moved to St Ives in 1881. He was one of the first artists to settle and painted the local fishermen and their families. Painted in 1906 and entitled The Evening of Life, the painting is a full length seated portrait of an elderly lady in a cottage interior. She is sat by a table on which she has a bible, jug of flowers and her sewing equipment. Across her lap she has a large patchwork quilt to mend but is lost in thought. In fact the same sitter and quilt can be seen in Memories, also painted in 1906 and in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull.  Memories includes more of the cottage interior but the sitter's head is bowed towards her hands. The Evening of Life is more vibrant and the sitters face is much more visible as are the lovely colours of the quilt. The painting has fantastic detail, great brushwork and the Newlyn school palette of colours. The provenance is excellent, having been kept in the same family ownership so fresh to market. The painting appeared in the artist's catalogue Raisonne and was also in 1997 biography
by Langely's grandson, Roger Langley, entitled
Walter Langley: Pioneer of the Newlyn Art Colony. This a
superb example of Langley's work,a good size and composition
and a pleasure to gaze upon. 

Signed lower left and dated (19)06.

Provenance. Ford, 1906 (£63).
Long in the previous family ownership and sold by the executors of the estate.
Thomas Wood and Sons label vereso. 
Literature: Langley (R) - Walter Langley Pioneer of the Newlyn Art Colony 1997, catalogue raisonne p.170 (under 1906).  

Click the link below for more details on this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/walter-langley/the-evening-of-life-interior-portrait

Frank Owen Salisbury (1874-1964)

Onward Christian Soldiers

This striking British Edwardian religious oil painting is by noted artist Francis 'Frank' Owen Salisbury or Frank O'Salisbury as he is largely known. Painted in 1911 it is a figurative landscape of soldiers on the battlefield. The two central characters, the 'Christian Soldiers' from the early crusades have halos and ride through the chaos on white horses. Shafts on light with angels illuminate them and also a crucifix. A very powerful Edwardian religious oil painting and an excellent example of O'Salisbury's work. painted in oil and illuminated in gold leaf.

Signed and dated with monogram lower right 1911.

Provenance From Castle of Park, Aberdeenshire. 
A version of this painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy London in 1911 entitled the Passing of War. 

 Click for the link to this painting  
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/salisbury/onward-christian-soldiers