William Traies (Attributed), Wooded River Landscape With Cascade & Figures

c. 1840

This early 18th-century Dutch oil painting depicts figures in a picturesque backlit river landscape. It’s influenced by the works of Jan Both (1615-1652). A falling sun casts an atm...

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 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...

Henry John Boddington. 19th century English landscape with figures by a riverside. Simply one of the finest quality English landscape Ive ever had the pleasure of owning . This i...

Well painted and very interesting composition attributed to the English landscape painter john Frederick Tennant. His work is very similar to ...

A most attractive painting with an extensive view towards a church tower, just as a rain shower is approaching. The picture includes a charming little figure group of a mother holdin...

19th century English landscape with Oak trees, a stream and sheep on a pathway. A wonderful classic English landscape dating from the middle of the 19th century. This style of paint...