Helen Margaret MacKenzie (1888-1966)

Self Portrait with Cat

This stunning Scottish 1920's self portrait oil painting is by noted Scottish female artist Helen Mackenzie. Painted circa 1929 the composition is the head and shoulders of the artist looking at colourful flowers in a vase with a beautiful white cat stretched out on the back of the sofa behind her. She is wearing a white off the shoulder dress and clasping a pendant to her chest. The brushwork and heavy impasto are superb and this shows all the attributes of the Scottish School and Colourist tradition. 

Signed lower right.

Provenance. Masons Yard Gallery 1971.   

Click link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/helen-margaret-mackenzie/self-portrait-with-cat




 

Louise Jopling - Now in Tate Britain, London

Louise Jopling (1843-1933)

Through the Looking Glass - Self Portrait

This painting can now be viewed at Tate Britain, London .

This superb oil on canvas self portrait painting is by British Victorian female artist Louise Jopling. Painted in 1875, when the artist was pregnant with her son Lindsay, the painting is a three quarter length self portrait of the artist painting herself from a reflection. She is seated wearing a light blue gown and mop hat and holds a palette and brushes. There is an oriental screen behind and various objects in the room. The brush work and impasto are fantastic. It is an absolutely charming self portrait by a prominent Victorian female portrait painter.
A research project on Louise Jopling and her circle has been in progress at the University of Glasgow since 2005. The project aims to document her career as a leading female artist and her close-knit artistic, literary and theatrical world of late 19th century London and Paris. It also seeks to understand better the climate in which women then practised as artists and, more generally, the climate for women's growing participation in the workplace and in public life.

Signed and dated 1875 lower right.

Provenance Christies London. Label verso. 

Tate Britian say: 

Tate Britain has made an exceptional acquisition, bringing to light the often-overlooked brilliance of Louise Jopling, a pioneering English artist whose legacy has languished in obscurity for over a century. Jopling, a prominent figure in the 19th-century art scene and a staunch suffragist, was sidelined by an art establishment that failed to recognise her professional achievements.
The painting in question, a captivating self-portrait created in 1875 during Jopling’s pregnancy with her son, Lindsay, is a poignant nod to her talent and resilience. Titled “Through the Looking Glass,” this artwork is a gateway into Jopling’s world and her remarkable journey as a woman artist in Victorian England.

Click below for link to Tate Britian article
https://artlyst.com/people/victorian-painter-louise-jopling-portrait-acquired-by-tate-britain/

Click below for link to other female artists at Richard Taylor Fine Art
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/female-artists

Arthur Gaskin (1862-1928)

The Wild Swans
(The Twelve Brothers Turned into Swans) 1928

I have always loved this painting at Birmingham Art Gallery and, after a recent trip there,  researched its background, from a Hans Christian Andersen story. 

The story tells of a king and queen who have 12 sons. The king is determined that the crown must pass to a daughter and if the queen gives birth to a girl he will have his sons executed. To protect them, the queen sends them to live deep in the forest where they find an old enchanted cottage. A daughter is born and is raised as a solitary child in the court. One day she finds 12 shirts in the palace laundry and asks her mother who they belong to. The queen confesses and tells her about her brothers and the threat to their lives. The princess, now aged 10, sets off to find them in the forest. She eventually discovers their cottage and goes in. Although the brothers had sworn to kill her if they ever met her, they are so touched by her kindness that they relent and ask her to join them in hiding. They all live happliy together until one day the princess unwittingly picks twelve magic lilies growing in the cottage garden. Her 12 brothers are immediately turned into swans and fly away. A witch appears and tells her that they cannot be changed back to human form unless she (the princess) remains silent for 7 years and knits 12 magic shirts for them made of nettles. She vows to do so and lives up a tree in a distant forest to avoid any temptation to speak. However, a young king out hunting with his courtiers sees her in the tree and is captivated by her beauty. They marry though she remains dumb and he does not know she is of noble birth. Her mother in law, who thinks her son has married beneath him conspires to accuse her of all kinds of crimes. Unable to speak up in her own defence she is soon condemned to burn at the stake. It is 7 years to the day when she is led to the stake and just as the fire is lit she sees twelve swans flying in formation above. They swoop down and scatter the burning twigs and free her from her bonds. She places a nettle shirt over each of them and she is joyfully reunited with her 12 brothers. At last she can speak and tells her husband who she is and of the wrongs done to her. The evil mother in law is boiled in oil and everyone lives happliy ever after. This painting illustrates the moment the princess is rescued! (Information from Birmingham Museums). 





Arthur Joseph Gaskin RBSA (1862-1928) was an English illustrator, painter, teacher and designer of jewellery and enamelwork. Gaskin and his wife Georgie Gaskin were members of the Birmingham Group of Artist-Craftsmen, which sought to apply the principles of the Arts and Craftsmovement across the decorative arts. Like many of the group, Gaskin studied at the Birmingham School of Art under Edward R. Taylor and later taught there.




















Continuing the birds in flight theme......

Stuart Maxwell Armfield (1916-2000) at Richard Taylor Fine Art

Seagulls

A superb, detailed and meticulous egg tempera oil on panel from around circa 1960 by Stuart Maxwell Armfield. The painting depicts a flock of seagulls in flight in a bold, strong and surreal colouring with sharp edges and fine lines. A really beautiful and unusual painting.

Signed lower left.

Provenance. Midlands estate.

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/animals-dogs/stuart-maxwell-armfield/seagulls
 

James John Hill (1811-1882)

Portrait of a Gleaner

This absolutely lovely British Victorian oil painting is by noted Birmingham born artist James John Hill and has some excellent provenance below. The painting actually stayed in Birmingham for many years, hanging in Heathfield Hall, the former residence of inventor and engineer James Watt, but owned at that time by Thomas Pemberton. It then moved to Berwick House in Shropshire.  Entitled The Gleaner and painted in1863, it is a charming half length portrait of a young woman with a sheaf of wheat under her arm. She is stood beneath trees and the wheat field is beyond. She is dressed in a lovely pink garment and wearing a brown felt hat, to shade her face from the sun, her dark hair cascading down her shoulder, The hat is decorated with a poppy. The soft tones and sympathetic rendering of the young woman make this a stunning 19th century oil painting with excellent provenance. The painting is housed in its original gilt frame with a beautiful oak leaf motif. 

Signed and dated 1863 lower left. 
 
Provenance Thomas Pemberton, Heathfield Hall, Handsworth, Birmingham.
(Heathfield Hall was the former residence of the inventor and engineer James Watt. Following his death the house had several occupiers including local luminaries Thomas Pemberton and George Tangye).

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/hill/portrait-of-a-gleaner

A few of our William Gear paintings to welcome in the week. 

William Gear (1915-1997)

Paysage Printanier or Spring Passage

This stunning Scottish Abstract Expressionist oil painting is by noted Scottish artist William Gear. Painted in 1950 it is an early and significant painting which dates to the early part of his career. Entitled Paysage Printanier it was painted during Gear's time in Paris and involvement with Cobra and demonstrates the freedom and fluidity of that period.  The vibrant green shapes with dramatic red and black suggest new life forcing upwards. A really pleasing composition to the eye and an excellent example of Gear's genius.

Signed and dated 50 lower right.

Provenance Signed and inscribed verso.
                    Christie's 2012 lot 347.

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/william-gear/paysage-printanier-or-spring-passage









William Gear (1915-1997)

Enigma No. 1

This superb Scottish abstract oil painting is by noted artist William Gear. It was painted in 1954, entitled Enigma 1 and is an orange geometric shape on a black background that blends into a black surround frame. There is heavy impasto blobs of red, green and blue down the centre of the orange that almost look like gems. It is very pleasing to the eye and an excellent example of Gear's work from that early period. It has exceptional provenance in that it was exhibited by Gimple Fils Galery in the fifties.

Signed titled and dated '54 verso.

Provenance The family of William Gear.
                    Gimpel Fils label verso. 

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/william-gear/enigma-no-1











William Gear (1915-1997)

Abstract Landscape with Red and Green

This stunning Scottish Abstract Expressionist oil painting is by noted Scottish artist William Gear. Painted in 1949 it is an early and significant painting which dates to the early part of his career. Entitled Abstract Landscape with Red and Green it was painted during Gear's time in Paris and involvement with Cobra. Mostly red and green shapes are incased in black on a vivid yellow background.  A really pleasing composition to the eye and perfectly housed in an ebonised frame, it is an excellent example of Gear's work.

Signed and Dated '49 lower right. Inscribed, titled and dated verso.

Provenance. Cornish collection. 

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/william-gear/abstract-landscape-with-red-and-green
 

Patrick Downie (1854-1945)

A Summer Afternoon - Firth of Clyde

This lovely Scottish exhibited seascape oil painting is by noted Scottish artist Patrick Downie. It was painted in 1914 and exhibited at the Glasgow Institute of Fine art that year entitled A Summer Afternoon - Firth of Clyde. The composition is a coastal scene with several figures of bathers and children playing on rocks on the shoreline. The Firth of Clyde is the mouth of the river Clyde, located on the west coast of Scotland. The sunlight on the water is superb as it illuminates the scene. The brushwork on the water and clouds are also fantastic. A really lovely Scottish 1914  coastal seascape with excellent provenance and a superb example of Downie's work.  

Signed lower left. 

Provenance Exhibited; Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, 1914 no. 208 entitled A Summer Afternoon - Firth of Clyde. 

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/downie/a-summer-afternoon---firth-of-clyde