Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 15

Harold Speed
Alcantara Bridge Toledo - British Victorian art Spanish landscape oil painting

1894

About the Item

This atmospheric Victorian Spanish landscape oil painting is by noted British artist Harold Speed. It was painted in 1894 in a wonderful soft focus Impressionist palette of greys, blues and greens. The peaceful composition is a river flowing under the beautiful arched Alcantara stone bridge at Toledo, with hills and trees beyond. A figure is sat by the edge of the river with a lantern beside him and lights can be seen at various locations. The square brushwork is tremendous and the use of white make this a very light and bright painting and an excellent example of Speed's work. A similar painting of the bridge, also from 1894 is in the Tate Gallery, London. The Alcántara Bridge (also known as Trajan's Bridge at Alcantara) is a Roman bridge at Alcántara, in Extremadura, Spain. Alcántara is from the Arabic word al-QanTarah (القنطرة) meaning "the bridge". The stone arch bridge was built over the Tagus River between 104 and 106 AD by an order of the Roman emperor Trajan in 98. Signed lower right. Provenance. Christie's London 2012. Haunch of Venison Gallery Condition. Oil on canvas, 36 inches by 29 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a complementary frame, 44 inches by 37 inches and in good condition. Harold Speed (1872-1957) was an English painter in oil and watercolour of portraits, figures and historical subjects. Born in London, the son of Edward Speed, an architect, he studied architecture at the Royal College of Art, but soon took up painting. He continued his studies at the Royal Academy Schools between 1891 and 1896, winning a gold medal and a travelling scholarship in 1893. In 1896 he was elected as a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1893 and held his first one-man exhibition in 1907 at the Leicester Galleries. In 1930 he provided paintings for the new chapel of Wesley House, Cambridge. Speed lived in Watlington, Oxfordshire and London, where he died on 20 March 1957. Because of their intelligent combination of useful advice and sensitive reflection on the nature and meaning of artistic practice, Harold Speed's instructional manuals on drawing and painting have long been considered valuable resources for artists. There are editions of his manual "The Practice and Science of Drawing" (1913) in the public domain.
  • Creator:
    Harold Speed (1872 - 1958, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1894
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 37 in (93.98 cm)Width: 44 in (111.76 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU853113420192
More From This SellerView All
You May Also Like
  • 'Agay, le château et le Sémaphore'. Oil on canvas. Signed.
    By Armand Guillaumin
    Located in Paris, FR
    'Agay, le château et le Sémaphore'. Oil on canvas. +/- 1922 Signed lower right Measurements : 60 x 73 cm. This painting will be recorded in the second volume of the Catalogue Raisonn...
    Category

    1920s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • "Moving the Wild Ones", Robert Hagan, 60x216, Oil/Canvas, Western, Impressionism
    Located in Dallas, TX
    "Moving the Wild Ones" by Robert Hagan is an original oil on canvas and measures 60x216. In this large original painting by Robert Hagan, cowboys on horseback run through the canyon mountains kicking up dust and trying to reign in runaway mustangs and they travel through the blue water and canyons. The contemporary cowboys are in trench coats with their cowboy hats flying off into the sky while holding Mustang Australian-style bullwhips that are ready to strike. Translating scenes of everyday life into nostalgic and blissfully peaceful visions of the world, Robert Hagan has become a premier Western artist of our time. A man of many talents his impressionistic style using a limited palette of oil brings a sense of tranquility that makes his paintings come alive. Robert Hagan is an Australian painter...
    Category

    2010s Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Union Square, Winter (Washington Monument)
    By Theodore Robinson
    Located in New York, NY
    As one of the first, and most important, American Impressionists, Theodore Robinson helped to introduce the French style to American artists and audiences.
    Category

    19th Century American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil

  • At the Clothesline
    By Irving Ramsey Wiles
    Located in New York, NY
    Signed lower right: Irving R. Wiles
    Category

    Late 19th Century American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Miner Hillard Milling Company
    By George William Sotter
    Located in New York, NY
    Signed lower right: G.W. Sotter; on verso: MINER HILLARD / MILLING Co.
    Category

    Mid-20th Century American Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Board

  • "Sunday in the Park, 1910"
    By Cyprien Eugène Boulet
    Located in Lambertville, NJ
    Signed Lower Right Cyprien-Eugène Boulet (1877 - 1927)
    Category

    Early 20th Century Impressionist Landscape Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All