Below is our painting by Arthur Hughes, The Convent Boat and one from Birmingham Art Gallery, The Long Engagement that we recently viewed. 

Arthur Hughes (1832-1915)

The Convent Boat

This stunning British Victorian Pre-Raphaelite oil painting is by noted artist Arthur Hughes. It was painted circa 1874 and has extensive provenance. The composition is of a novice nun leaving her family to cross a river, in the Convent Boat, to go to her new life in cloisters on the other side. The fact that the artist returned to the subject several times confirms his fondness for the composition. The painting shows the emotional moment in which a young novice leaves her family for the convent. The ramifications of her decision are laid bare for the viewer. Dressed as a bride of Christ, the novice's austere clothing contrasts with the sumptuous garb of those standing on the river bank. While her family lament her departure, she holds a prayer book and looks away solemnly, appearing resolute in her choice. Soft evening light descends over the trees and reflects serenely across the water. The convent walls, overgrown with dense ivy, suggest the institution's agedness, connecting it with England's spiritual heritage. This is a superb painting with wonderful detail and colouring, telling the story of a young woman's turning point in life. It is also an excellent example of Hughes immense skill as a Pre-Raphaelite Victorian artist.

Signed lower left.

Provenance Bought by Mrs. Ann Fleming in 1963.
Sale Christie's, 25 March 1966, lot 145, as 'The last Farewell' bought by Naylor Leyland.
Sale, Sotheby's, 26 July 1967, lot 361 (£160) bought by David W. Hughes.
Sale, Sotheby's, 30 October 1968, lot 118 (£190) bought by Colson.
Sale, Sotheby's Belgravia, 22 February 1972, lot 109 (£650) The Fine Art Society.
Purchased from Fine Art Society in November 1973 by Michael Hasenclever.
Galerie R. Hartmann in November 1973.
Sale, Sotheby's Belgravia, 9 April 1980, lot 17 (£11,000) bought by David Crew-Read on behalf of Lloyd Webber. 
Acquired from Lord Lloyd Webber by Mrs Jeremy Norris. 
Private collection, UK Exhibited: London,The Aesthetic Movement and the Cult of Japan , The Fine Art Society, 3-27 October 1972 (no.24, repr. p.14)
 Munich, Burne-Jones und der Einfluß der Prä-Raffaeliten, Michael Hasenclever, 29 November 1972 -10 January 1973 (No.11, DM16,500, repr.)
Baden-Baden, Germany, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden 1973 (No.84, repr. colour, p.147)
Literature: M. Amory, ed. The Letters of Evelyn Waugh, 1980, p.607.
L. Roberts and S. Wildman, Arthur Hughes: His Life and Works, A Catalogue Raisonné, Woodbridge Suffolk:
Antique Collectors' Club, 1997, no.131.3. ill., p.184



Arthur Hughes (1832-1915)

The Long Engagement around 1854-59

Birmingham Art Gallery

The couple in this painting are engaged but unable to marry as he's a curate (an assistant to a parish priest) and doesnt earn enough to support a wife. They've been in love so long that the ivy has grown over her name, Amy, carved into the bark of the tree. Early summer has arrived, wild roises are blooming and the squirrels in the woodland are pairing off, but these two remain stuck in limbo. 

Hughes painted the landscape outdoors. He battled persistent rain, the roses closing up and an attack by an angry bee to paint the wooded setting directly from nature in amazing detail. 

Text from Birmingham Art Gallery. 







 

Thomas Falcon Marshall (1818-1878)

Harvest Time

This superb large exhibited British Victorian oil painting is by noted artist Thomas Falcon Marshall. Painted in 1849 it was exhibited at the Royal Academy London that year. This large painting depicts a father on his white horse saying goodbye to his family before heading off to the harvest, hence the exhibition title, 'the Orphans of the Village - Harvest Time'.  There is also a partial quote from a poem by James Thomson. It is a beautiful landscape populated with several groups of people including the father and his family, workers having a drink behind him and labourers around the waggon in the field beyond. There is tremendous detail and beautiful colouring making this a thoroughly charming Victorian rustic genre scene and an excellent example of Marshall's work. 

Signed lower left. 

Provenance. Exhibited at the Royal Academy London, 1849 No. 612 entitled 'The Orphans of the Village - Harvest Time'. 'Be not too narrow, husbandman! but fling from the full sheaf, with charitable
stealth, the liberal handful'. James Thomson

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/thomas-falcon-marshall/harvest-time-2

James Kay (1858-1942)

Exeter Cathedral

This beautiful Scottish Impressionist Edwardian architectural oil painting is by noted artist James Kay. Painted circa 1900 the painting is of Exeter Cathedral in Exeter in Devon in the south west of England. The composition shows the square leading up to the cathedral which is populated with figures dressed in their finery, many with parasols and even a horse and cart. One can just see a couple of buildings to the right of the cathedral and trees on the left. The cathedral itself fills three quarters of the canvas and is easily identified by its architecture. The Impressionist brushwork and heavy impasto are superb. The use of blue for shadows on the square echoes up to the blue sky showing through the clouds and is reminiscent of Monet and his exterior cathedral scenes. This is a stunning Scottish Impressionist Edwardian oil painting and an excellent example of Kay's work.

Signed lower left. 

Provenance Somerset estate. 

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/kay-1/exeter-cathedral

Celebrarting Imbolc,  a Gaelic traditional festival marking the start of spring, and for Christians is the feast
day of Saint Brigid, Ireland's patroness saint. Held on the 1st February, about halfway between the
winter solstice and the spring equinox.


Miles Peter Richmond (1922-2008)

Abstract Yellow Flowers

This superb British 1940's abstract expressionist oil painting is by noted founder member of the Borough Group artist, Miles Peter Richmond. Painted in 1947 it has another unfinished oil painting verso by the same artist. Richmond was a huge admirer and follower of David Bomberg, having studied under him. Indeed he followed Bomberg to Spain where he lived and worked for twenty years. Bomberg's influence can been seen in this painting with its bold brushwork and vibrant colours as well as incredible visual depth.  This is a fantastic example of British abstract art in the 1940's and of Richmond's work.
Unsigned. 
Provenance. The Artist, from whom acquired by previous owner, 2001
                     Private Collection, UK.
                     Bartley Grey Gallery London. Label Verso.

Click the link below for this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/gallery/floral/richmond/abstract-yellow-flowers

Norah Neilson Gray (1882-1931)

Exotic - Portrait of Rita McIlraith

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.

Click below for link to this painting
https://www.richardtaylorfineart.com/artist/gray/exotic-portrait-of-rita-mcilraith