William III Bromley

William III Bromley, The Magpie’s Breakfast

c. 1882

This witty early 20th-century oil painting by British artist Edgar Bundy ARA RI RBA (1862-1922) depicts a young country woman visiting the home of her wealthy relatives, to much dism...

This idyllic late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880) depicts a west-country cove with two cottages, donkeys, figures, and fishing boats. Cooke was a highly renowned painter of marine scenes and landscapes who exhibited extensively at London’s Royal Academy. From our elevated vantage point, the view extends between two quaint cottages and across the beach before sweeping around the sandy coastline. Crystalline waters lap the shore, where moored craft rest. It’s an accomplished rendering of a challenging composition. It’s enhanced by trees, which essentially ‘frame’ the right side, while a wooded track provides interest on the left. Cooke was a keen admirer of the Dutch old masters, and the spirit of the Golden Age underpins this splendid work. In diaries, he recorded how he travelled by donkey to access elevated spots in the southwest, so it’s conceivable that he did so here. In his catalogue raisonné, it lists a work from the same year titled ‘Bay with Donkeys’. Born in Pentonville, London, Cooke was raised in the company of accomplished artists as both his father, George Cooke (1781-1834), and his uncle, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were engravers. As such, they were associated with a circle of Victorian painters who aided Cooke’s early development. These included the highly regarded marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793-1867), who provided frequent advice and inspiration. Indeed, as a teenager, Cooke produced numerous drawings after Stanfield’s works. A precocious talent, by the age of nine, he was already displaying an advanced understanding of engraving, particularly for ships, coupled with a natural, seemingly in-built skill as a draughtsman. Many of his early drawings depict pastoral landscapes after the masters, such as Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and Karel Dujardin (1626-1678). In an extraordinary turn of events, in 1820, his advanced abilities led to his first commission when he provided botanical illustrations for John Loudon's 'Encyclopaedia of Plants’. These were followed by drawings published in the 'Botanical Cabinet...

Letitia Bonnet Hart (American, 1867-1953) Victorian Ladies Oil on canvas, 21 x 16 1/4 inches FRAMED: 28 x 23 inches (approx.) Signed at lower right: "Letitia B. Hart" Label on stretcher: "Marbella Gallery, New York" Daughter of the Hudson River School painter James McDougal Hart, Letitia was born into an extended family of accomplished artists. After preliminary study with her father and mother, she attended the Brooklyn Academy of Design and the National Academy of Design. She began exhibiting at the age of eighteen, and continued to exhibit in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, Louisiana Purchase Exhibition, and the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition...

Robert Alexander Hillingford British, (1828-1904) The Duke’s Musicians – A Reminiscence of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire Oil on canvas, signed Image size: 40 inches x 59 inches Size including frame: 47.5 inches x 66.5 inches Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1883, no. 844 Exhibited at the Yorkshire Institute A large-scale Royal Academy painting...