Abraham Hulk the Elder Art

Bernard Hemy - Bernard Benedict Hemy (1844 - 1910). Marine and Coastal painter in oil and watercolor. Born in Newcastle to Henry F. Hemy, brother...

Artist: John Cheltenham Wake (English, 1837-1882) Title: "Fishermen Unloading the Day's Catch, Dover" *Signed and dated by Wake lower left Year: 1874 Medium: Original Oil Painting on Canvas Framing: Recently framed in a green and gold ornate gesso moulding Framed size: 16.5" x 24.5" Canvas size: 12" x 20" Condition: One area in upper left sky professionally restored. In otherwise very good condition Notes: Provenance: private collection - Vero Beach...

This vigorous drawing has long been attributed to Polidoro da Caravaggio: The Abduction of the Sabine Women is one of the scenes that Polidoro depicted between 1525 and 1527 on the façade of the Milesi Palazzo in Rome. However, the proximity to another drawing inspired by this same façade, kept at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to other drawings inspired by Polidoro kept at the Musée du Louvre, leads us to propose an attribution to Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist whose life remains barely known, despite the abundant number of drawings attributed to him. 1. Biagio Pupini, a Bolognese artist in the light of the Roman Renaissance The early life of Biagio Pupini, an important figure of the first half of the Cinquecento in Bologna - Vasari mentions him several times - is still poorly known. Neither his date of birth (probably around 1490-1495) nor his training are known. He is said to have been a pupil of Francesco Francia (1450 - 1517) and his name appears for the first time in 1511 in a contract with the painter Bagnacavallo (c. 1484 - 1542) for the frescoes of a church in Faenza. He then collaborated with Girolamo da Carpi, at San Michele in Bosco and at the villa of Belriguardo. He must have gone to Rome for the first time with Bagnacavallo between 1511 and 1519. There he discovered the art of Raphael, with whom he might have worked, and that of Polidoro da Caravaggio. This first visit, and those that followed, were the occasion for an intense study of ancient and modern art, as illustrated by his abundant graphic production. Polidoro da Caravaggio had a particular influence on the technique adopted by Pupini. Executed on coloured paper, his drawings generally combine pen, brown ink and wash with abundant highlights of white gouache, as in the drawing presented here. 2. The Abduction of the Sabine Women Our drawing is an adaptation of a fresco painted between 1525 and 1527 by Polidoro da Caravaggio on the façade of the Milesi Palace in Rome. These painted façades were very famous from the moment they were painted and inspired many artists during their stay in Rome. These frescoes are now very deteriorated and difficult to see, as the palace is in a rather narrow street. The episode of the abduction of the Sabine women (which appears in the centre of the photo above) is a historical theme that goes back to the origins of Rome and is recounted both by Titus Livius (Ab Urbe condita I,13), by Ovid (Fasti III, 199-228) and by Plutarch (II, Romulus 14-19). After killing his twin brother Romus, Romulus populates the city of Rome by opening it up to refugees and brigands and finds himself with an excess of men. Because of their reputation, none of the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities want to give them their daughters in marriage. The Romans then decide to invite their Sabine neighbours to a great feast during which they slaughter the Sabines and kidnap their daughters. The engraving made by Giovanni Battista Gallestruzzi (1618 - 1677) around 1656-1658 gives us a good understanding of the Polidoro fresco, allowing us to see how Biagio Pupini reworked the scene to extract this dynamic group. With a remarkable economy of means, Biagio Pupini takes over the left-hand side of the fresco and depicts in a very dense space two main groups, each consisting of a Roman and a Sabine, completed by a group of three soldiers in the background (which seems to differ quite significantly from Polidoro's composition). The balance of the drawing is based on a very strongly structured composition. The drawing is organised around a median vertical axis, which runs along both the elbow of the kidnapped Sabine on the left and the foot of her captor, and the two main diagonals, reinforced by four secondary diagonals. This diamond-shaped structure creates an extremely dynamic space, in which centripetal movements (the legs of the Sabine on the right, the arm of the soldier on the back at the top right) and centrifugal movements (the arm of the kidnapper on the left and the legs of the Sabine he is carrying away, the arm of the Sabine on the right) oppose each other, giving the drawing the appearance of a whirlpool around a central point of support situated slightly to the left of the navel of the kidnapper on the right. 3. Polidoro da Caravaggio, and the decorations of Roman palaces Polidoro da Caravaggio was a paradoxical artist who entered Raphael's (1483 - 1520) workshop at a very young age, when he oversaw the Lodges in the Vatican. Most of his Roman work, which was the peak of his career, has disappeared, as he specialised in facade painting, and yet these paintings, which are eminently visible in urban spaces, have influenced generations of artists who copied them abundantly during their visits to Rome. Polidoro Caldara was born in Caravaggio around 1495-1500 (the birthplace of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, who was born there in 1571), some forty kilometres east of Milan. According to Vasari, he arrived as a mason on the Vatican's construction site and joined Raphael's workshop around 1517 (at the age of eighteen according to Vasari). This integration would have allowed Polidoro to work not only on the frescoes of the Lodges, but also on some of the frescoes of the Chambers, as well as on the flat of Cardinal Bibiena in the Vatican. After Raphael's death in 1520, Polidoro worked first with Perin del Vaga before joining forces with Maturino of Florence (1490 - 1528), whom he had also known in Raphael's workshop. Together they specialised in the painting of palace façades. They were to produce some forty façades decorated with grisaille paintings imitating antique bas-reliefs. The Sack of Rome in 1527, during which his friend Maturino was killed, led Polidoro to flee first to Naples (where he had already stayed in 1523), then to Messina. It was while he was preparing his return to the peninsula that he was murdered by one of his assistants, Tonno Calabrese, in 1543. In his Vite, Vasari celebrated Polidoro as the greatest façade decorator of his time, noting that "there is no flat, palace, garden or villa in Rome that does not contain a work by Polidoro". Polidoro's facade decorations, most of which have disappeared as they were displayed in the open air, constitute the most important lost chapter of Roman art of the Cinquecento. The few surviving drawings of the painter can, however, give an idea of the original appearance of his murals and show that he was an artist of remarkable and highly original genius. 4. The façade of the Milesi Palace Giovanni Antonio Milesi, who commissioned this palace, located not far from the Tiber, north of Piazza Navona, was a native of the Bergamo area, like Polidoro, with whom he maintained close friendly ties. Executed in the last years before the Sack of Rome, around 1526-1527, the decoration of Palazzo Milesi is considered Polidoro's greatest decorative success. An engraving by Ernesto Maccari made at the end of the nineteenth century allows us to understand the general balance of this façade, which was still well preserved at the time. The frescoes were not entirely monochrome, but alternated elements in chiaroscuro simulating marble bas-reliefs and those in ochre simulating bronze and gold vases...

Francis Jamieson was a painter in oil and watercolor of highland landscapes and coastal scenes. (The work of this highly prolific artist is curious since the oils and watercolors have two quite distinctive styles and subject matter. The oil paintings are most frequently seen and these are highland landscapes or loch scenes - sometimes they appear to be signed with pseudonyms such as 'W. Richards' and 'Phil Hips' - the location is usually inscribed on the reverse. The watercolors are often coastal scenes with boats and figures on a shore, painted in a more traditional Victorian style, and possibly pre-date the oils. F. E. Jamiesons's beach scenes were published as postcards around 1920 by G. Ajelli & Co. of London on a textured card to give the appearance of oils. Jamieson is known to have traveled widely in the South of England between the wars selling his work but does not appear to have exhibited.) This quote in parentheses is taken from Jeremy Wood's excellent book 'Hidden Talents - A Dictionary of Neglected Artists Working 1880-1950'. - Work by Francis Jamieson can be seen at the usual sites. Please note that on all these sites you will find F. E. Jamieson variously listed as Francis E. Jamieson, F.E.Jamieson, Frank E. Jamieson, Frederick E. Jamieson etc. You may also find some listings under his various pseudonyms of Arnould Pienne, Charles Maurice, Graham Williams...

Crossing the Bridge Scottish School, late 19th century signed lower corner oil painting on canvas, framed framed: 9 x 13 inches canvas: 7 x 11 inches provenance: private collection, ...

This lovely British Victorian oil painting is by Edward Charles Williams of the Williams Family of artists and related to George Morland. The painting is a figurative landscape entitled the Woodman's family and entails five figures and a dog gathered around a tree that the Woodman is tackling with his axe. The painting is signed and indistinctly dated (only visible with ultra violent light) lower left, the date being 1869. For me, the highlight of the painting is the artistry and attention to detail with which Williams has portrayed the light on the trees above and the exquisite colouring of the leaves. There are even two birds finely depicted in the tree foliage. Signed and indistinctly dated 1869 lower left (only visible under ultraviolet light). Provenance. Berkshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, image size is 40 inches by 36 inches and in good condition. Housed in a complementary frame. Framed size is 48 inches by 44 inches and in good condition. Edward Charles Williams (London 10 July 1807 – 25 July 1881) was an English landscape painter during the Victorian Era, and a member of the Williams family of painters. He was the eldest son of the painter Edward Williams (1781–1855) and Ann Hildebrandt (c.1780–1851), and a member of the Williams family of painters, who were related to such famous artists as James Ward RA and George Morland. His father was a well-known landscape artist, who taught him how to paint; otherwise he received no formal instruction. He adopted much of his father's style and technique, and like the other painters of his family, he devoted himself to landscapes, producing rich and tranquil views of Barnes, Cumberland, Kent, Surrey and the Thames. His paintings are now highly sought after. Williams married his first wife Mary Ann Challenger on 11 December 1839 in Westminster. Mary Ann died in 1857 in London, and his only child Alice Williams was born shortly afterwards to Sarah Susannah Horley, who had been Mary Ann's nurse – Edward and Sarah did not marry for another 10 years until 3 October 3, 1868, when they wed at the St. Pancras Old Church in Camden, London. He largely stopped painting after the 1859 death of his second wife, adding value to the small number of paintings that he did produce from 1859 on − Springer in the Bracken, The Lap Dog, The Ploughman's walk home, The Ducks at Tilbury and Primrose at St Mary's (Primrose was the Verger's Cat). Some suggest that he suffered a breakdown after his wife's death, given his choice of subjects in these later years. The location of three of these post-1859 works are unknown, and they are assumed lost during two world wars. He signed some of his work as E Williams, which leads to confusion with his father, who painted in a similar style, and at times he signed as C Williams to purposely avoid such confusion. Because many of the paintings of both father and son are unsigned, it can be difficult to correctly attribute their work. Edward Charles also collaborated on several paintings with William Shayer, where Williams would paint the landscape, and Shayer would add in figures and animals; his Near Wantage, Berkshire is a good example. He died 25 July 1881 at Shepherds Bush in London and is buried with Sarah Horley and their daughter Alice in Hammersmith Old Cemetery, close to other family graves. Edward Charles Williams was born into an artist family that is sometimes referred to as the Barnes School. His father and five surviving brothers were all noted landscape painters during the Victorian era. Three of the sons of Edward Williams changed their last names to protect the identity of their art. Edward Williams (father) Henry John Boddington, George Augustus Williams, Arthur Gilbert, Sidney Richard Percy, Alfred Walter Williams.

This lovely British Victorian oil painting is attributed noted landscape and animal artist George Cole ans ascribed verso. Painted in 1840 it is a superb portrait of two horses, one ...

Late 19th century Scottish Highland Lock landscape, with Cattle watering E.Mulready was almost certainly a pseudo name for William Langley a well known English painter of landscapes...

This lovely British Victorian landscape oil painting is attributed to noted artist Sam Bough. It was painted circa 1855 after Bough had moved to Hamilton Lanarkshire in Scotland to focus on painting landscapes along side fellow artist Alexander Frazer. The composition is several cattle watering in a stream under the boughs of an ancient tree. There is superb impasto, for example on the clouds and this is a charming 19th century oil painting. Provenance. London estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 29 inches by 16 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ornate gilt Victorian frame, 36 inches by 23 inches framed and in good condition. Samuel Bough RSA (1822–1878) was an English-born landscape painter who spent much of his career working in Scotland. He was born the third of five children in Abbey Street, Carlisle in northern England, the son of James Bough (1794-1845), a shoemaker, and Lucy Walker, a cook. He was raised in relative poverty, but with a keen encouragement in the arts. He was self-taught but mixed with local artists such as Richard Harrington and George Sheffield, and was strongly influenced by the work of Turner. After an unsuccessful attempt to live as an artist in Carlisle he obtained a job and as a theatre scenery painter in Manchester in 1845, later also working in Glasgow in the same role. Encouraged by Daniel Macnee to take up landscape painting he moved to Hamilton from 1851-4 and worked there with Alexander Fraser. In 1854 he moved to Port Glasgow to work on his technique of painting ships and harbours. His paintings were noted for their sensitivity to atmosphere and light, were often of cloudy shorelines and busy harbours. He also began supplementing his income by illustrating books, before moving to Edinburgh in 1855. On coming to Edinburgh he lived in a terraced house at 5 Malta Terrace in the Stockbridge area of the city. Following Turner's example, he became a skilful painter of seaports. He was buried in Dean Cemetery Edinburgh on 23 November 1878. The grave bears a bronze medallion of his head by William Brodie...

Breton Fisherfolk on the Shore French School, early 1900's signed with initials HB oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 15.5 x 20 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: ...

Artist/ School: English School, late 19th/ early 20th century. The painting came from a large collection of works by one artist. A very few of them are signed what looks to be 'F. Wa...

The Irish Sunset Irish School, mid 19th century, circa 1850 oil on canvas, framed framed: 34 x 32.5 inches canvas: 28 x 26 inches provenance: private collection, UK condition: very g...