Unknown

Late 19th-Century Eastern European School, Landscape With Farm Buildings

c. 1880

This mid-19th-century oil painting, attributed to English artist George Clarkson Stanfield (1826-1878), depicts a small vessel approaching a shipwreck, close to the coast. Stanfield ...

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...

This charming mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to English artist William Traies (1789-1872) depicts a picturesque river view with cascade, figures and cattle. Traies was an a...

This late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward Robert Smythe (1810-1899) depicts a picturesque bay with buildings, fishing boats, figures and horses. Smythe was a maste...

ABOUT THE ARTWORK “Pleasure Garden” is a canvas brimming with the splendor of life and nature, where each flower and leaf pulsates with vitality under the artist’s confident brushstr...

Laura Woodward Gloucester Harbor, circa 1880 Signed lower left Oil on canvas 18 x 24 inches Provenance: Private Collection, United Kingdom Priory Fine ...

Charles Sprague Pearce The Riverbank, circa 1900 Signed lower left, inscribed verso Oil on canvas 7 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches Charles Sprague Pearce made a successful career painting high...

Title: Isla Cristina, Spain Artist: Michel de Alvis Year: c.1960 Technique: Oil on canvas Dimensions: 9.45 x 16.14 inches (24 x 41 cm) Subject: Seascape Condition: Excellent Provenan...