James McBey

The Somme Front

1917

Gathering Vraic on a Jersey Shore. c. 1937. Ink and watercolor on 'Castle Linen Tolli & Harvey LD London' countermarked paper. 7 1/8 x 13 1/2 (sheet 12 1/2 x 16 1/4). Good condition, apart from small professionally repaired paper losses at the corners, from previous hinges. Dedicated 'To my friend Harold James Bailey E.B.' and annotated 'To wish you a glad glow of happiness for Christmas and the New Year'. From the collection of the famous Blampied scholar and collector, Harold J. Bailey, who wrote an article, 'Edmund Blampied: Artist and Philosopher' in the Print Collector's Quarterly 24 (1937). Housed in a 15 1/2 x 21 1/2-inch Whistler style gold wood frame. In the left rear section is a Martello or Conway tower, built as a fortiffiction. A Jersey Round Tower Coastal towers stand all along the coast of the island. The British built 22 round towers, one similar square tower, and eight Martello towers towards the end of the 18th Century and in the early to mid-19th Century, but now only 24 remain, including seven of the Martellos. Vraic is a seaweed found in the Channel Islands. The main use of vraic is for spreading over potato fields during the winter. It is then ploughed into the soil before the potatoes are planted in late winter and spring. Vraic was traditionally gathered by horse and cart in Grouville Bay and St Ouen's Bay, and in smaller quantities at Le Hocq and Havre des Pas. The practice continues using...

Rio della Misericordia. October 1924. Watercolor. 14 x 8 3/4. McBey did a striking nocturnal view of the bridge in his 1926 drypoint, The Bridge by Night Carter 232. Signed and dated, lower right; titled verso. Housed in a French mat and a 22 x 16 1/2-inch gold leaf frame. The Rio Della Misericordia ( from the Venetian to the Misericordia Canal ) is a canal from Venice in the sestiere of Cannaregio, Contrada San Marzillan in Italy. The river runs along the old Servite convent. The canal is crossed by two bridges, from east to west: the San Marziale spawning linking the campo of the same name with the Fondamenta de la Misericordia and the dei dei Servi or Betania linking the Mensa di Betania to the Fondamenta de la Misericordia . Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, James McBey attended evening classes at Graydon's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press at the age of fifteen. He moved to London to prepare for a one-man show at Goupil's Gallery, and shortly after this highly successful first show, he traveled to Morocco with James Kerr...

Gravesend. August 1928. Ink and watercolor on paper. 13 1/2 x 21. Signed and dated in ink, lower left; and titled in ink, verso. Housed in a 24 1/2 x 31-inch Whistler-style gold frame. Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex, about 15 miles southeast of London. Born in Newburgh near Aberdeen, James McBey attended evening classes at Graydon's School of Art and taught himself etching, building his own press at the age of fifteen. He moved to London to prepare for a one-man show at Goupil's Gallery, and shortly after this highly successful first show, he traveled to Morocco with James Kerr Lawson...

The Archibald Russell. 1935. Pencil and watercolour on watercolour board. 20 7/8 x 28 5/8. Mat line from a previous mount; otherwise excellent condition. Signed and dated in ink, low...

Into the Woods is an original modern artwork realized by the French artist Gabrielle Kayser in 1948. Original watercolored and china ink on paper. Hand-signed and dated by the ar...

Venice Landscape is an original, splendid drawing in pen and watercolor realized by an Anonymous Venetian School, XVIII century. The state of preserva...

St. Gregory in Rome is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1741. Ink and watercolour on brown paper. In very good codition. Dated on the lower margin. The origin...

Monks at the well is an original watercolored drawing in ink on paper, realized by the French artist André Maire (1898-1985). Unsigned. With autograph pe...