Charles Robert Knight

The River of Time (The Princeton Tiger)

1923

Signed and dated, lower right: EL / Nov 34 Provenance: Barbara and Ernest Kafka, New York.

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...

Provenance: Robert Hollberton, Antigua, ca. 1841 Private Collection, New York The present painting depicts Old St. John’s Cathedral on the island of Antigua. The church was erected in the 1720s on the designs of the architect Robert Cullen. It measured 130 feet by 50 feet with north and south porches 23 x 20 ½ feet. The tower, 50 feet high with its cupola, was added in 1789. The church was elevated to the status of a cathedral, but disaster struck in the form of an earthquake that destroyed the building on 8 February 1843. A memorandum of that date relates the event: “On Wednesday, 8th February, 1843, this island was visited by a most terrific and destructive earthquake. At twenty minutes before eleven o’clock in the forenoon, while the bell was ringing for prayers, and the venerable Robert Holberton was in the vestry-room, awaiting the arrival of persons to have their marriage solemnized, before the commencement of the morning service, the whole edifice, from one end to the other, was suddenly and violently agitated. Every one within the church, after the first shock, was compelled to escape for his life. The tower was rent from the top to the bottom; the north dial of the clock precipitated to the ground with a dreadful crash; the east parapet wall of the tower thrown upon the roof of the church; almost the whole of the north-west wall by the north gallery fell out in a mass; the north-east wall was protruded beyond the perpendicular; the altar-piece, the public monument erected to the memory of lord Lavington, and the private monuments, hearing the names of Kelsick, Warner, Otley, and Atkinson, fell down piecemeal inside; a large portion of the top of the east wall fell, and the whole of the south-east wall was precipitated into the churchyard, carrying along with it two of the cast-iron windows, while the other six remained projecting from the walls in which they had been originally inserted; a large pile of heavy cut stones and masses of brick fell down at the south and at the north doors; seven of the large frontpipes of the organ were thrown out by the violence of the shock, and many of the metal and wooden pipes within displaced; the massive basin of the font was tossed from the pedestal on which it rested, and pitched upon the pavement beneath uninjured. Thus, within the space of three minutes, this church was reduced to a pile of crumbling ruins; the walls that were left standing being rent in every part, the main roof only remaining sound, being supported by the hard wood pillars.” The entrance from the southern side into the cathedral, which was erected in 1789, included two imposing statues, one of Saint John the Divine and the other of Saint John the Baptist in flowing robes. It is said that these statues were confiscated by the British Navy from the French ship HMS Temple in Martinique waters in 1756 during the Seven Years’ War and moved to the church. The statues are still in situ and can be seen today, much as they appeared in Bisbee’s painting, but with the new cathedral in the background (Fig. 1). Little is known of the career of Ezra Bisbee. He was born in Sag Harbor, New York in 1808 and appears to have had a career as a political cartoonist and a printmaker. His handsome Portrait of President Andrew Jackson is dated 1833, and several political lithographs...

Provenance: Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996 Private Collection, USA Giovanni Battista Viola was born in Bologna a...

Rural Mountain Scene with Sheep in Ireland by Post War Modern Irish Artist, David Overend. Art measures 16 x 12 inches Frame measures 25 x 21 inches ...

Artist : Murli Cheeroth Title : Terrestrial Verses Ii Size : 48 x 48 inches (unframed size) Medium : Oil on Canvas Inclusive of shipment in a roll form. Style : Before he settl...

Laszlo Neogrady (1896-1962) "Tending the Flock" c. 1930 Oil on Canvas approx 24 x 30 approx 30 x 36 framed Laszlo Neogrady was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1896. He was the son of...

George W. Drew (1875-1968) "Springtime at the Farm" Oil on Canvas 24 x 36 inches (site) 31.5 x 43.25 (framed) George W. Drew was born 21 December 1875 in Massachusetts. He was a member of the Independent Artists Association. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design and they have him recorded as living at 745 Columbus Ave., N.Y. in the year 1898. He also exhibited at the Allied Artists of America, which was established in 1914, Salons of America, N.Y. State Fair, Newark State Fair, Newark Museum and New York Museum of Science & Industry. Although there is little known about the personal life of George W. Drew, his paintings appear on the art market quite often. It is obvious that his work has always been well received because of the numerous exhibitions he has participated in. He is known for his rustic luminous depictions of the Nineteenth Century American Landscape. Like many of the Hudson River Painters...