Claudio Coello (1642-1693)

Portrait of a Spanish Noble Lady

This stunning, large portrait oil painting is attributed to Spanish Old Master Claudio Coello who is considered the last great Spanish painter of the 17th century. It has formerly been the property of Lady Beatrice in Sidmouth and is labelled verso. Painted circa 1680, the portrait is three quarter length and is of a young noble woman in a very sumptuous, ornate red dress with bows, beads, jewels, lace and heavy embroidery on it as well as red and white feathers coming from her hair. One hand is by her chest and the other reaches out to, maybe, a purse on a table, very similar to her earrings. Next to that is a bound red book and beneath that one can clearly see sheet music. Perhaps this is to indicate her love of music or singing. She gazes straight at the artist/viewer in a very confident manner, sure of her place in the world. The details and colouring are just superb, given the painting is from the 17th century and this is a rather special Spanish Old Master portrait.

Unsigned. 
 
Provenance Labelled verso, 'Portrait by Coello, Property of Lady Beatrice K??, Colematon Cottage, Sidmouth'

Click below for link to this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/new/coello/portrait-of-a-spanish-noble-lady

Aubrey Williams (1926-1990)

Pelican

This beautiful large vibrant animal painting is by Aubrey Williams, Guyanese artist. It is a watercolour/gouache painting of a magnificent Pelican and painted in 1974. Williams has recently been reassessed by the Tate and Manchester Art Galleries and been the subject of television documentaries. He was best known for his large, oil-on-canvas paintings, which combine elements of abstract expressionism with forms, images and symbols inspired by the pre-Columbian art of indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches, and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season.

Titled lower left and signed and dated lower right.

Provenance Sussex estate.

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/animals-dogs/aubrey-williams/pelican

Jean Victor Bertin (1767-1842)

Italiante Mountainous River Landscape with Hill Top Town

This stunning French 19th century landscape is by acclaimed Neo Claissical French artist Jean Victor Bertin. He was also an early proponent of sketching out doors and direct observation in order to replicate nature later in studio paintings. This superb painting of great historical interest is of a mountainous river landscape. Central is a hill top town and figures and a cart are in the foreground. A stunning painting. His works are housed in all the major art collections worldwide including The National Gallery, The Scottish National Gallery. The Louvre and the National Gallery Washington

Signed and dated 1827 lower right.

Provenance Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, New York, 28 January 2000, Lot 108
Christie's, London, Old Master Pictures, 27 April 2007, Lot 119. Acquired from the above by Lord Wraxall.

Click the likn below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/bertin/italiante-mountainous-river-landscape-with-hill-top-town

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