Benjamin Williams Leader

The River Llugwy At Capel Curig

1864

George Bernard ONeil 1828-1917 Oil on canvas, signed & dated (18)76 lower right Image size: 22 ½ x 17 inches Original frame The painting depicts the arrival of the new teacher, a curious pupil peeps around a door to see her, while her friends look through the open door to the classroom to catch a glimpse. The artist has gone to great lengths with the painting, such as the highly detailed Dutch tiles on the bottom right of the picture or the window above the door in the background. O'Neil often painted works with several doorways leading off and giving a sense of depth to the work. The use of light and shadow is also cleverly depicted across the work, one light source arrives from where the viewer stands filling the room and the new teacher with light, while the other window above the door in the background also gives a warm glow. George Bernard O'Neill was born on 17th July 1828 in Dublin the ninth of fifteen children of Bernard and Sarah O...

John Rogers Herbert RA 1810- 1890 Oil on canvas, dated '1850' lower right on sword strap Image size: 33 ½ x 23 ½ inches Gilt Watts frame This striking painting, depicts David as a y...

Alfred East The Wood Cutter Oil on board Signed lower right and titled on back Image size: 10 1/4 x 15 inches (26 x 37.5 cm) Carved gilt frame This romantic landscape by East, certainly shows the influence that the Barbizon school had on his work. The Barbizon school were drawn together by their passion and desire to elevate landscape painting as a response to the Academic elevation of historical and mythological themes. Here, East truly revels in the beauty of the English landscape but also captures the mood of the time in which there was a growing concern at the rapidity of social change and its impact upon the countryside. East regularly painted the Cotswolds from the early 1890s until the end of his life - it is probable that this scenes depicts that part of the country. He focused principally on the area around Upper Swell, which he referred to as 'Over Swell', hoping to avoid the village becoming a focus for visitors seeking out the views that he portrayed. East adopted a well established three-stage-technique that made great use of the under-painting, a second layer concerned with the correction of values, and a final stage for the addition of details; all painted with lean oil paint. As can be seen in the work, during this process East practically repainted the entire canvas after the first layer and then proceeded to pick out isolated sections that required further reworking and detail. Provenance Pelter Sands Gallery Bristol, 1975 Exhibition of Twentieth Century British Painting. This work was part of Andrew Vicari...

British School 19th Century TempestOil on board Image size: 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches (24 x 32 cm)