Pre-Raphaelite Landscape Paintings

‘The Fallen Knight’ by Briton Rivière R.A. (1840-1920). This important mid-19th century Pre-Raphaelite oil painting is signed by the artist and dated 1863. The starting point for Rivière’s painting is an 18th century Scottish ballad about two crows who find a mortally wounded knight abandoned by his comrades, his hawk, his hound and even his lover. The ‘twa corbies’ hungrily discuss feasting on his corpse. However, unlike every other depiction of the story, here the crows are reduced to shadowy supporting characters in the background whilst the dying knight is deliberately placed front and centre as the focus of the composition. But not the sole focus. The entire mood and message of what would otherwise be a morbid tale is turned on its head by the inclusion of the little hare in the foreground. He (or she) is the one creature that has chosen to – literally – stand by the dying soldier. In Anglo-Saxon mythology the hare is a symbol of rebirth. Crucially, unlike the ballad on which it is based, the painting doesn’t dwell on the crows and death and those who profit from it, but instead on the knight and the hare and the promise of resurrection. Rivière’s painting recalls another Pre-Raphaelite masterpiece, ‘The Stonebreaker’ by Henry Wallis which depicts a manual labourer who has been worked to death. On the face of it, the theme of both paintings is the tragic hero exploited, victimized and abandoned, but in ‘The Fallen Knight’ Briton Rivière has chosen to add a note of optimism with the addition of this steadfast little hare. The artist revisited a similar theme twenty-five years later with his Royal Academy painting of 1888. In ‘Requiescat’, a dead knight in full armour lies in state and sitting beside the tomb, mourning his master, is a devoted hound. All of our paintings are offered in the finest condition they can be for their age having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Briton Rivière trained under his father, the artist William Rivière (1806-1876), master of the drawing school at Cheltenham College and Oxford University. At the age of eleven, two of his pictures were exhibited at the British Institution, and at seventeen he made his Royal Academy debut. Whilst still in his teens Rivière came under the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites and in particular John Everett Millais (1829-1896) who was so impressed with ‘Charity’, Riviere’s Royal Academy painting of 1870, that he sought out the young artist to convey his compliments. Briton Rivière’s great success came as a painter of animals, and in particular dogs and lions. By 1873, following the death of Sir Edwin Landseer, he was considered Britain’s greatest painter of animals. Rivière was elected Associate of the Royal Academy in 1878 and became a full Academician two years later. After the death of Millais in 1896, he was narrowly defeated by Sir Edward John Poynter in the vote for President of the Royal Academy. Today, paintings by Briton Rivière are held in the collections of Tate Britain, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Chrysler Museum of Art. Dimensions: (framed) 46¼cm x 61½cm (18¼” x 24¼”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 59cm x 75cm (23¼” x 29½”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: Circa 1860; with Robert Cumming...

‘The Beautiful Sentinel’ by Karl Wilhelm Gentz (German, 1822-1890). This large fine 19th century oil painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a gilded Orientalist frame. As wit...

A British oil on board Pre-Raphaelite painting of a mother and child in a coastal scene by Henry Robert Robertson. The work is signed bottom left and is presented in a fine period gilt frame. There is evidence of a museum label on the gilt mount and to the sides of the frame are secure mounts to suggest it has been shown in a museum. To the rear of the painted panel there is a trade label, unfortunately not fully decipherable, as over the top of that is another label with dedication to 'Annie Miller Robertson on her birthday 29th May 1863.' On the top of the frame and stretcher there is also a written reference to the collection of a Mrs Parsons (Alice) in Washington, USA. A charming jewel like painting of the type of romantic scene made famous by the Pre-Raphaelites. The artist has captured the beauty of the mother, her golden flowing hair and rustic shawl and dress, the child in a more luxurious fine red outfit. The sea in the distance as she walks along the shore. The gaze of both subjects locked on the artist and in turn us the viewer. Henry Robert Robertson, RE, RMS was born in Windsor in 1839 and illustrated a book called "Life in the Upper Thames" in 1875. He was also known as a figure and portrait painter. He exhibited widely, including the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of painters, etchers and engravers. The label to the back of the painting is very interesting, could it refer to Annie Miller a British woman who modelled for many paintings of the artists of the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood in the Victorian Era. Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. The forward facing portrait by William Hunt and the sketch by Dante Rossetti...

‘The Beautiful Sentinel’ by Karl Wilhelm Gentz (German, 1822-1890). This large fine 19th century oil painting is signed by the artist and hangs in a gilded Orientalist frame. As wit...

Antique American sunlit landscape painting. Oil on board, circa 1880. Signed in monogram lower right, "H.H.". Displayed in a period giltwood frame. Image, 12"L x 15"H, overall 6"...

PROVENANCE: Bought from the artist by Edward C. Corry Esq. on 22 March 1896 for £15. LITERATURE: C. Payne and C. Brett, John Brett: Pre-Raphaelite Landscape Painter, New Haven and ...

Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1834, Fidelia Bridges became a specialist in meticulous watercolor studies of plants, flowers and birds in their natura...

Born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1834, Fidelia Bridges became a specialist in meticulous watercolor studies of plants, flowers and birds in their natura...