Alfred Walter Williams

Alfred Walter Williams, Barmouth Sands, North Wales, Oil Painting

1887

This late 19th-century oil painting by British artist Walter Waller Caffyn (1845-1897) depicts cattle by a stream near a wood. Caffyn was a Royal Academy-exhibited painter of natural...

This charming late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Alfred Augustus Glendening (1840-1921) depicts a picturesque woodland view with sheep. Glendening was a distinguished painter of landscapes. Amid the gentle golden glow of British summertime, sheep graze on a country track flanked by several mature trees. It’s likely to be a view in Sussex or Kent and possibly painted at Knole Park near Sevenoaks. Born in Hampton on Thames, London, Glendening was raised in an area popular with Victorian artists. The river, with its zig-zagging steamboats and silvery waters, provided ample inspiration for a young impressionable mind. This fascinating environment delivered the building blocks for his artistic development, and one can imagine him sketching on the riverbank along with other painters. It would take a little time before he turned to art as a career but, once he pursued his calling, success was inevitable. Travel during the mid-19th century was becoming a little easier thanks to the emerging rail network, and Glendening filled his sketchbooks on various cross-country trips. In 1864, he debuted at The Royal Society of British Artists with a view from Cumbria’s picturesque Lake District. The following year, exhibiting ‘A Cornfield, Kent’ at the Royal Academy. Many of his works were centred around shimmering water with the Isle of Wight another frequent destination. Soon, the rising middle classes took note and he became a firm favourite - views in North Wales, the Highlands, Surrey, and Devon captured with a deft touch. His approach was predominantly naturalistic and lacked the grandiosity of many early Victorian painters. His tranquil vignettes are skilfully observed with dapples of light dancing across reflected foliage. The occasional bird picked out with weight and movement. Glendening’s exquisite draughtsmanship was matched by a keen understanding of tone and value, resulting in balanced compositions with blissful moods. By 1903, he’d exhibited 47 works at the Royal Academy - quite an achievement for a late starter. Today, various museums hold examples including at Southampton and Newport. Signed/dated lower left and held within a later frame. Provenance: Private collection, UK. Artist’s auction maximum: £32,000 for ‘Bramber Castle’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, 19th Century Pictures...

This endlessly charming mid-19th-century English oil painting depicts a rural scene with a family, cattle, pond, and cottage. A mother and child pause to observe a drover, perhaps f...

This late 19th-century oil painting by Austrian artist Otto von Thoren (1828-1889) depicts three horses pulling a cart across a shallow ford. Von Thoren was a celebrated painter of l...

George Turner British, (1843-1910) Near Tonge, Leicestershire Oil on canvas, signed Image size: 15.25 inches x 23.25 inches Size including frame: 22.75 inches x 30.75 inches A cha...

An idyllic scene of chickens feeding in a famryard with old outbuildings and a patch of blue sky beyond. William f Burchell (exhibiting 1909-1937) A farmyard scene Signed Oil on can...

19th century Scottish Highland Sheep in a landscape. A Scottish 19th century Highland landscape painting featuring Highland sheep by Vincent Collier offers more than just aesthetic ...

William Watson Jnr British, (1847-1921) Up Glen Goil, West Highlands Oil on canvas, signed & dated 1892, further inscribed verso Image size: 23.5 inches x 35.5 inches Size including frame: 36.25 inches x 48.25 inches This highly atmospheric and well executed painting by William Watson Jnr depicts Highland Cattle watering at Glen Goil. Glen Goil is a valley area of Argyll and Bute in the West Highlands. It is situated at the junction of Hell’s Glen and Gleann Mor and has the river Goil flowing through. Located around 2 miles from Lochgoilhead, it is well known as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Watson made several trips to the Highlands and produced a number of paintings of the locality, many of which included highland cattle such as this fine example. Another painting by him of Glen Goil is held by the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. William Watson was born in Islington in 1847, the son of the London miniature painter William John Watson (1810-1871) and his wife Caroline (née Butcher). His brothers Charles Watson (1837-1900) and Robert Watson (1855-1921) were also artists. His father seems to have travelled around and after spending time in Brighton, the family moved to Bransford Road in Worcester during the early part of the 1860’s. As well as being taught by his father, Watson received his early training in the studio of Sir Francis Grant PRA (1803-1878). He later became a pupil of Sir Edwin Henry Landseer RA (1802-1873) and Rosa Bonheur (1822–1899). Both Landseer and Bonheur had a great influence on his work and he began specialising in scenes of cattle and sheep. By 1866 he had become a full time artist and began exhibiting at the Royal Society of British Artists. Perhaps to take advantage of the inspiring scenery, Watson moved to Birkenhead, Cheshire where in 1871 he met and married Eleanor Davies who was from Caernarvonshire. Four of their children Sidney Watson (1881-1931), Caroline Ellen Watson (1871-1947), William Robert Charles Watson (1873-1928) and Walter James Watson...