Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 16

Portrait of a Lady Sewing - British 19th century art Newlyn School oil painting

Circa 1890

$24,663
£18,000
€20,996.03
CA$33,782.14
A$37,573.12
CHF 19,619.51
MX$457,224.88
NOK 250,571.14
SEK 234,991.53
DKK 156,701.42
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

This beautiful late 19th century portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of Walter Langley. It has the hallmarks of the Newlyn School of artists such as the subject matter, composition, brushwork and muted green tones of the Cornish artists. The painting, circa 1890 is a three quarter length portrait of a seated elderly lady. She is sat sewing under the light of a window. She is clothed in the muted Cornish palette so popular with the Newlyn School like Walter Langley and Frank Bramley. A really lovely 19th century portrait oil painting. Provenance. Scottish estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 36 inches by 28 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt acanthus leaf frame, 44 inches by 36 inches framed and in good condition. Walter Langley (1852-1922) was an English painter and founder of the Newlyn School of plein air artists. He was born in Birmingham and his father was a journeyman tailor. At 15 he was apprenticed to a lithographer. At 21 he won a scholarship to South Kensington and he studied designing there for two years. The sometimes highly ornate work is mainly in gold and silver and in a Renaissance style. He returned to Birmingham but took up painting full-time, and in 1881 was elected an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA). In the same year he was offered £500 for a year's work by a Mr Thrupp (a Birmingham photographer). With this money he and his family moved to Newlyn where he was one of the first artists to settle and began recording the life of the fishing community. Politically left wing for his era, he was noted for his social realist portrayals of working class figures, particularly fishermen and their families. He was a supporter of Charles Bradlaugh, a radical socialist politician. His own working-class background enabled him to identify with the villagers and the hardships they endured, many of his paintings reflect this sympathy with the working-class fisher-folk amongst whom he lived. One of the best known works is the watercolour For Men Must Work and Women Must Weep (1883; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) based on Charles Kingsley's poem The Three Fishers (1851). Another is Between The Tides (1901; Warrington Museum & Art Gallery). News of the missing was shown at the Royal Academy in 1884 and sold to an unnamed buyer for £250. Although one of the first to settle in the Newlyn artists' colony Newlyn School, Langley initially benefited little from its growing fame, partly because of his working-class origins and partly because until 1892 he painted largely in watercolour rather than the more prestigious medium of oils. His early training in lithography gives his paintings a detail and texture that show his technical skills. In 1884, Langley was elected a member of the RBSA and continued to exhibit widely throughout the UK and abroad. Later in his career his reputation grew. One of Langley's paintings was singled out as "a beautiful and true work of art" by Leo Tolstoy in his book What is Art?, while in 1895 Langley was invited by the Uffizi to contribute a self-portrait to hang alongside those of Raphael, Rubens and Rembrandt in their collection of portraits of great artists. Today his work is considered "vital to the image of the Newlyn School" and "alongside Stanhope Forbes ... the most consistent in style and substantial in output".
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1890
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 44 in (111.76 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Circle Of:
    Walter Langley (1852-1922, British)
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU853113061352

More From This Seller

View All
Portrait of Lady at Spinning Wheel - French 1901 interior portrait oil painting
By William Albert Ablett
Located in London, GB
This lovely Edwardian oil painting is by French artist William Albert Ablett. Dated 1901, the brush work and use of light are superb. Ablett has perfectly captured the movement and f...
Category

Early 1900s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Flax Spinner - Belgian Victorian art female portrait oil painting craftwork
Located in London, GB
This beautiful Victorian portrait oil painting is by Belgian artist Alfred Ronner. Painted circa 1890 the painting is of a young woman sat at a spinning wheel. She is spinning flax, ...
Category

19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Interior Portrait of a Lady Taking Tea - Scottish Edwardian art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This lovely Scottish Edwardian interior portrait oil painting is by noted Scottish artist Arthur Percy Dixon. Painted in 1906 it is a seated portrait of a lady in the corner of a roo...
Category

Early 1900s Victorian Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of an Edwardian Lady - British American art portrait oil painting
By John Singer Sargent
Located in London, GB
This lovely British Edwardian portrait oil painting is attributed to circle of John Singer Sargent. Sargent was born in America then trained in Paris before coming to London. Painted...
Category

1910s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Girl Holding Wool - British Edwardian female portrait oil painting
Located in London, GB
This beautiful British Edwardian portrait oil painting is by noted and much exhibited female artist Maud Marion Wear. Wear trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London for five yea...
Category

Early 1900s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Portrait of a Lady in a Landscape - British 19thC art oil painting
By Annie Louisa Swynnerton
Located in London, GB
This stunning British 19th century Pre-Raphaelite portrait oil painting is attributed to famous Manchester born artist and elected associate of the Royal Academy, Annie Louisa Swynne...
Category

19th Century Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Vintage portrait of a woman sewing by french artist Leon Garraud
Located in AIGNAN, FR
A quiet moment captured by the artist, Leon Garraud of a woman sewing. It's an oil on board framed under glass in beautiful tones of browns and greys highlighed by the light shining...
Category

1930s French School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Oil Painting on Canevas, circa 1920-30, Female Character Sewing
Located in Miami, FL
Intimate and realistic painting in a light atmosphere coming from the garden by the closed window, reflecting the calm atmosphere of the scene. Half part of the figure catching this...
Category

20th Century English Other Paintings

Materials

Canvas

Sewing woman
Located in Täby, SE
Carl Henrik Nordenberg, born 19 May 1857 in Asarum, died 1 November 1928 in Düsseldorf,was a Swedish-German artist, nephew of the artist Bengt Norden...
Category

1880s Naturalistic Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

John Scott British Artist Oil on Board, Young Seamstress
By John Scott
Located in Phoenix, AZ
John Scott (1850-1918) British figure and genre painter. Oil on board in good condition, framed under glass. Measures: 12 7/8" H x 9 5/8" W. Frame: 19" H x 15 1/2" W. Original frame,...
Category

Late 19th Century Figurative Paintings

Materials

Paint

Young Woman Sewing
Located in Sheffield, MA
Othmar Ruzicka Austrian, 1877-1962 Young Woman Sewing Oil on board 19 ¾ by 23 ¾ in, w/ frame 26 by 30 in Signed and dated 1913 lower left
Category

Early 20th Century Naturalistic Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

Early 20th Century French Signed Oil Painting Female Artist Painting at Easel
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Female Artist at her Easel French School, early 1900's indistinctly signed oil on board, framed framed: 21 x 17.5 inches board: 16 x 13 inches provenance: private collection, En...
Category

20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil