This stunning much exhibited 1920's Scottish portrait oil painting is by noted Glasgow Girl artist Norah Neilson Gray. Painted circa 1923, the model for the painting was Rita McIlraith but the artist did not want to use her name in the title and it was called 'Exotic.'
Norah Neilson Gray was a Scottish artist known for her striking portraits and remarkable ability to capture the essence of the sitter. She achieved international status and recognition during her lifetime, and was one of the most esteemed female painters of the early twentieth century.
She was a member of The Glasgow Girls, a group of women artists and designers active in Glasgow at the turn of the twentieth century. The group including Margaret and Frances MacDonald, Jessie M. King, Annie French, Helen Paxton Brown, Jessie Wylie Newbery, Ann Macbeth, Bessie MacNicol, Norah Neilson Gray, Stansmore Dean, Eleanor Allen Moore, De Courcy Lewthwaite Dewar, the silversmith Agnes Banks Harvey and Christian Jane Fergusson. Their paintings including Exotic were exhibited in Kirkcudbright in July and August 2010.
The painting is a seated portrait of Rita McIIraith, sat in the lotus position in a meditative pose, gazing serenely before her. She is wearing a fabulous orange and floral off the shoulder dress and in her arms are yellow and white flowers. The heavy impasto and vibrant colours are superb. A stunning oil painting by an incredibly talented Scottish female artist whose works are in numerous international museums.
Signed upper right.
Provenance Exhibited: Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts 1924, no.283, Ill.48
Exhibited the Royal Scottish Academy 1925, No. 374, entitled Exotic.
Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow Girls - Women in Art and Design 1880-1920, 1990-91, Illustrated fig. 315.
Glasgow Girls: Artists and Designers 1890-1930. Illustrated on page 52, Mr John W D Thomson.
Exhibited in Kirkcudbright in July and August 2010.
Have you got your tickets for Crufts yet? We're going for the first time this year and are very excited. These three cuties would get our vote.
Hilda Annetta Walker (1877-1960)
Portrait of Three Pedigree Pekingese Dogs
This gorgeous British 1930's triple dog portrait oil painting is by female artist Hilda Walker. She was born in Yorkshire and studied art in Leeds and London and was also a sculptor. She flourished between 1902 and 1958, continuing to paint well into her late 70's. This lovely painting, painted in 1934 and signed and dated lower left, is of three pedigree Pekingese dogs; Wee Keep, Wee Boy and Wee Sing, sired by Boy Wang from a breeder in Cornwall and their details are inscribed verso. The dogs are sat close together in a group against a light green background, all looking at the artist/viewer, their eyes shining. They are all different shades and Walker has perfectly depicted their soft hair and sweet little faces with great detail and brushwork. The frame housing them is the perfect colour. This is a superb thirties oil painting of not one but three Pekingese dogs and I doubt we'll have it for long. It is also an excellent example of Walker's work in the prime of her artistic career.
Signed and dated 1934 lower left.
Provenance. Details of dogs verso.
Faintly inscribed verso with the names of the dogs; "Wee Keep [?] (bitch), Wee Boy (dog), and Wee Sing (bitch), Sire 'Boy Wang", the breeder is given as 'Mrs Beswetherick of Woon Nr St Austell in Cornwall
This superb vibrant Oriental Post Impressionist oil painting is by noted British artist Gerald Spencer Pryse. It was painted circa 1925 when Pryse first visited Morocco. He was so entranced by the country and culture that he returned to live there for a few years in the early 1950's. This painting is a very bustling street market scene in Tangiers with dozens of figures, a couple of donkeys and baskets of lemons dotted about along the street. Indeed, a donkey is carrying more baskets of lemons and a figure in the foreground is holding one whilst a stall holder attends to his scales. Tangiers lemon were, and still are, used for lemon flavoured tea and also in hookah pipes. There is an almost abstract feel to the painting as most of the figures are wearing white or beige clothing, with splashes of red and pink here and there and a stream of yellow running through the middle. Pryse has used his bold brushwork and impasto to really capture the colours and shapes of the lemon market. This is an excellent example of his work from his time in Morocco and one can only imagine the wonderful smell of the lemon market.
This superb Vibrant British Post Impressionist floral oil painting is by noted artist Gerald Spencer Pryse. Painted circa 1930 the composition is a mass of sweet pea flowers in shades of pink, completely filling the canvas. The brushwork is superb with heavy impasto in the range of pinks and greens. A really gorgeous, lush painting and an excellent example of Pryse's work.
This superb British Post Impressionist figurative landscape oil painting is by war artist Gerald Spencer Pryse. Painted circa 1953 it depicts festivities outside Buckingham Palace, London. In the foreground are a large crowd including two girls dancing. In the middle ground is a beautiful memorial commemorating Queen Victoria. It was designed and built by Sir Thomas Brock between 1911 and 1924. Beyond is Buckingham palace. Red and yellow banners flutter above the crowd's head. Pryse had an eye for catching the mood of a scene, be it in the trenches or a happier scene such as this. An excellent example of his work and a great historical artwork.
Unsigned.
Provenance. From the artist's estate.
Exhibition label verso.
The three paintings below are Watson's wife and her two sisters, all stunning.
George Spencer Watson ROI, ARA, RA (1869-1934)
My Lady of the Rose - Portrait of Hilda, the Artist's Wife
This superb British exhibited portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson. The influence of Lord Frederick Leighton and the Italian Renaissance can easily be seen. Entitled My Lady of the Rose, the sitter is his much loved wife, Hilda Gardiner. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy London in 1911 and has been handed down through the family. Watson also painted Hilda's two sisters, Elsie and Lillian and the family likeness is apparent. Known affectionately as 'Ginger', Hilda was a classical violinist trained in Europe. As a dancer and mime artist, Hilda was heavily influenced by the free form Greek style of Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan. Her passion for dancing continued until the end of her life. She regularly organised and took part in performances both in London and later in the theatre that she built at Dunshay Manor, the Spencer Watsons's home on the Isle of Purbeck. The symbolic title for the portrait 'My Lady of the Rose' reflects the artist's deep reverence for Hilda. The symbolism of the Rose as a symbol of love but also of new beginnings, an appropriate theme for the portrait painted in 1909, to celebrate his marriage to the sitter. The figures in the background perhaps reflect both the sitter and artist's interest in mythology and the arts. A winged figure fires an arrow which strikes another figure on whose belt the artist has signed his initials. The vibrant blues and reds and the fantastic brushwork and delicate detail in Hilda's face make this a stunning, deeply personal portrait of a much loved wife.
Signed GSW upper right.
Provenance The Royal Academy, 1911 no.368 entitled My Lady of the Rose. Bermondsey Settlement Picture Exhibition, 1913, label verso. Dresden exhibition label verso.
William Harold Gardiner, ; Joan Gardiner (in Australia); Robin Tassell, of Dovehouse Stanwick, Northants;
Richard Thompson & Mary Spencer Watson; Thence by descent.
This superb large British Edwardian exhibited portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson. It was painted in 1909 and exhibited at the Royal Academy the same year and has a beautiful Pre-Raphaelite tone to it. One can see the influences of Lord Leighton and George Frederick Watts as well as John Singer Sargent. The sitter is Mrs William Tisdall, nee Elsie Gardiner, sister of Watson's wife, Hilda Gardiner. She was born in 1875 and died in 1940 aged sixty-five. She would have been about thirty-four at the time of this portrait. She married William Tisdall - The Tisdalls were a prominent Irish family who had owned the Charlesfort Estate, Kells, Co. Meath since the mid 18th Century. They had a son, Michael. They moved to England and lived in Brighton, Sussex, in 1881 and Leigh, Worcestershire, in 1891. William registered for military service in 1915 which he survived and he died in 1954, at the age of 78, so out living his first wife by some 14 years, having married again. This stunning full-length portrait is of Elsie in quite a casual pose, one leg out and elbow resting on a mantlepiece of the fire place, a pink shawl beneath it. Next to her on the mantlepiece is a gleaming vase with red flowers partly reflected in the mirror. An ornate wall paper is behind her. She is gazing to her right and downwards. She is a beautiful woman, wearing a white lace dress, caught in the sunlight, adorned with a pink flower and her dark hair is up on her head showing off her slender neck. She is wearing several gold rings, bracelets and necklaces suggesting her status and wealth. The luminosity of Elsie's white dress and skin tones against the dark background is simply beautiful. There are lovely details in her facial features and hands and the brushwork on the flowers and wallpaper is superb. This is a fantastic example of Watson's work and a simply stunning large Edwardian portrait oil painting that would not look out of place in any major gallery.
Signed and dated 1909 lower right.
Details of sitter inscribed on stretcher bar verso.
Provenance Exhibited: The Royal Academy, London 1909. no.40 entitled Mrs William Tisdall.
Possibly Exhibited at The Paris Salon. Dresden. Kunstsalon Emil Richter, 1911. Dorset County Museum, Dorchester & Southampton Art Gallery 18th Sept 1981-10 January 1982 no.3
The Artist's family, by descent. The artist refers to the painting of this portrait in his notebook at the time. 'Aug 08. Mrs Tisdall nee Gardiner sister of Hilda and Mrs Thompson...done at Charlesfort.....Had a delightful time there'.
This superb British portrait oil painting is by noted artist George Spencer Watson and is dateable to 1913. The sitter is Lillian Gardiner ( Mrs Jack Allen) and is the sister of Watson's wife, Hila Gardiner. Watson also painted Hila's other sister Elsie in 1909 of which there is a likeness. The portrait is half-length of Lillian wearing a velvet grey cape with fur cuffs and muff, with a vivid blue silk scarf to her head and pendant earrings. The brushwork and detail are just superb and it is beautifully housed in a silver and gold frame that perfectly compliments the colour tones. This is an excellent example of Watson's work.
This superb British 1930's modern art tempera Surrealist painting is by noted interwar artist Blair Hughes-Stanton. Painted in 1939 it is entitled two Figures 1939 verso and may relate to Ida Graves, poet, novelist and associate of the Bloomsbury group with whom Hughes-Stanton started the Gemini Press in 1933 and had two children. The painting echoes the influence of Picasso and Stanton's interest in the female form. It is an excellent vibrant example of his work.
Signed and dated lower right 'H-S 39'. Titled to label attached to the reverse.
Provenance. The Estate of the Artist.
Inscribed on canvas verso.
James Bourlet label verso.
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