William Skilling

Oil Painting of a Reclining Woman in a Woodland Scene, L'Asie by Skilling

Circa 1970

Midcentury oil painting on canvas of three boys with poles uniquely portrayed as a deconstructed moment on open canvas surrounded by blue with reflections. Signed in the lower right ...

Charming pair of oil paintings on canvas of a boy and a girl, one with a doll and one with watermelon. Executed in a naive style once seen hard to forget. Signed Manuel Velazquez and...

Modernist oil painting on board depicting an unexpected gathering of personalities all with a common expression. Signed by the noted artist Ken Nielsen and...

Oil painting on board executed in a distinctive naive folky style of a French cafe with figures dressed in Belle Epoque attire. Signed by the noted artist Ferdinand Boilauges and pre...

Oil painting on board executed in a distinctive naive folky style of a French cafe with figures dressed in Belle Epoque attire. Signed by the noted artist Fernand Boilauges...

Striking Impressionist oil painting on canvas depicting three mysterious figures in a jungle setting executed with technical skill reproducing light in the deep forest. Signed by not...

‘Carnevale di Venezia’ by James Holland RWS (1799-1870). The painting – which depicts an extensive view of the Grand Canal with hundreds of masked revellers before the Ducal Palace ...

‘Carnevale di Venezia’ by James Holland RWS (1799-1870). The painting – which depicts an extensive view of the Grand Canal with hundreds of masked revellers before the Ducal Palace ...

19th century oil painting of a market scene by H. C. Bryant English, 1877 Canvas: Height 51cm, width 76.5cm Frame: Height 68cm, width 93.5cm, depth 5cm Painted by the English artis...

‘News from the Front’ by Frederick Goodall R.A. H.R.I. (1822-1904). The painting – which depicts a diverse cross-section of Victorian figures gathered outside a post office as they...

Oil on canvas, signed lower right Image size: 33 1/2 x 56 1/2 inches (85 x 143 cm) Original gilt frame Provenance With the artist's son, Millie Dow Stott Esq., until 1912. Artist's Studio Sale, Christies, November 1913. Private Collection Exhibitions London, Royal Academy, 1895, no. 679. Paris, Societe de la Nationale des Beaux-Arts, 1896, no. 1179. Berlin, VII Internationale Kunstausstellung 1897. no. 3533. Manchester, City of Manchester Art Gallery, 1912, no. 339. In the 1890s William Stott exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, mainly highly decorative works with subjects derived from classical mythology and literature. This painting was Stott's 1895 entry to the Royal Academy and was subsequently exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1896 and then on to the Berlin, VII Internationale Kunstausstellung 1897. Shakespeare was a favourite source for Victorian painters, and the tragic romance of Ophelia, from Hamlet, was an especially popular subject, featuring regularly in the Royal Academy exhibitions. The most popular and iconic image of Ophelia's death was, and is to this day, John Everett Millais's 1851 painting showing the confused and tragic Ophelia floating downstream on her back in a state of mad ecstasy, arms raised in a gesture of inevitable submission. However, although Stott chose not to pastiche this image, it seems highly likely that he was prompted to take up this subject, which had almost become a 'rite of passage' among Victorian painters, by the fact that in 1894 Millais's Ophelia was presented to the National Gallery of British Art by Sir Henry Tate. It appears that Stott was much influenced by John William Waterhouse...

Provenance: Christie’s, London, 3 March 1922, lot 46 (with The Tower of Babel); James Nicoll Private Collection Sotheby’s, London, 29 March 1983, lot 157 Private Collection, New Yo...