Roy Petley was the firstborn to what became a large family in Grantham, Lincolnshire in April 1950. Little affection was shown to him and the only discipline was the bad tempter of his mother; by the time he was five he had been removed from his family and taken to the Woodlands school near Uckfield, Sussex. Home as well as a school for abandoned children. Petley cannot remember when he first began to draw – ‘Always, always’ is his claim – but it was at this school and in the charge of his art master whose name he recalls as Price. He was a resident at the school for 10 years and tells a story fit for Vasari in that in being let loose in the art room, in a frenzied flurry of activity, he used in one week all of the material available for all of the pupils for one whole term. Formal recognition of his talent came when in 1967 at the age of 16, Petley was awarded a place in the Brighton School of Art. With his family and educational background, it had been decided without reference to him that he needed a safe career prospect offered by training in commercial art. He found himself compelled to draw carefully and in great detail aesthetically unrewarding objects. When he asked if he might change to fine art he was refused. Regretting only that in some sense he had been betrayed by his art master at Woodlands, he cut short his term at University and hitch-hiked to Italy to see and learn from the great masterpieces that have so inspired him. Petley settled in Florence, haunting the Uffizi and Pitti galleries, examining with the closest scrutiny everything from Walter Pater's favorite Botticellis and the melancholy piety of the Portinari Altar by Hugo van der Goes, to the rumbustious pagan episodes illustrated by Pietro da Cortana. He charmed his way into the Gabinetto dei Disegni and was permitted the privilege of handling the old master drawings in that magnificent collection. After a year of living through his art in Florence, Petley returned to England. He was still only 17 and without the experience of formal training in a major art school, lacking the support and recommendation of well-known teachers no gallery would look at his work. Petley drifted to Belfast and did what he could to survive and drew whenever he could. The Bell Gallery gave him some encouragement and sold his drawings, but the time spent surviving and the time spent drawing were unequal and with a sense of growing frustration he returned to London. Back in London, Petley found work in the Greenwich Theatre which afforded him enough time to paint and he managed to exhibit his works in the small galleries of Liberty and Heal’s. In 1972, now 21, he left the theatre confident that he could support himself through his art. Again the galleries around Bond street refused to even view his work – all forms of abstraction were in vogue and Petleys dogged attachment to landscape and urban scene kept him remote from high fashion. With resource and rebellion that had been his boyhood strengths, he took his paintings to the railings of Green Park – the extraordinary fusion of art and junk that lined the length of Piccadilly every Sunday under the respectable title of ‘The Open Air Art Show’ and immediately caught the eye of American dealers who were to become his constant patrons. With such success, Petley could have retreated to a studio and worked for exhibitions in America, but he liked the raffish life of the Sunday shows, the banter with other artists and the chance encounters with people who might buy. One cheque caused him some dismay, for it was signed only with a Christian name, but the bank on which it was drawn was reassuring – not only would it be honored but without realizing it he has become the object of Royal patronage. The Duchess of Kent, whose cheque it was returned for more paintings. A member of the Queen Mother’s household staff came to look at Petleys works and bore back to her a portrait study of Prince Charles. Petley was summoned to the Queen Mother’s presence. Commissions followed from both the Duchess and the Queen Mother. Petley was required amongst other things to paint views of Sandringham and one painting bought by the Queen Mother was given to Prince Charles as a birthday gift. Set fair with such patronage, he gave lessons to the Duchess of Norfolk – an oddly old fashioned relationship rare now though common enough in the 20th century. The wry twist is that Petley himself was untutored and could only teach by example. The paid sat together painting the same landscapes on the same scale, just as Paul Maze and Winston Churchill, exchanging observations with Petley having to give reasons for actions which to him were wholly instinctive. By 1985, The Open Air Art Show had lost its casual attractions for Petley. He had for some years lived in Norfolk and the growing number of patrons and supporters in the country removed the need for weekly journeys to London. Petley had no reputation among critics and the Arts Council had never heard of him but his paintings were in rising demand and his American connections were as constant as ever. Able to sell all that he could paint and with the patronage that must be the envy of even the most celebrated contemporary painters. Petley did not need the London art world and it was only the consequence of persuasive argument that he was persuaded to expose in London.
City Park During the Summer
By Roy Petley
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on board Board size: 24 x 36 inches Framed size: 37.75 x 50 inches Signed lower left
Oil, Board
$3,000
H 16 in W 20 in
"Brighton Beach" Nathan Hoffman, New York, Sunny Day Landscape Impressionism
By Nathan Hoffman
Located in New York, NY
Nathan Hoffman Brighton Beach, July 31, 1946 Signed, dated, and estate stamped on the reverse Oil on artist's board 10 x 13 1/2 inches Provenance: Esta...
Oil, Board
$1,800
H 17.5 in W 21.5 in D 1.75 in
"Cherry Blossoms in Full Bloom" Impressionistic Landscape Oil Painting Framed
By Robert Waltsak
Located in New York, NY
A wonderful impressionist pastoral landscape with beautiful color tones throughout. Waltsak has portrayed this piece in a most intimate yet energetic way and has packed much feeling ...
Oil, Board
$9,000
H 24 in W 28.5 in
"Provincetown Harbor" Colin Scott, New England, Sailboats, Harbor Scene
Located in New York, NY
Colin Scott Provincetown Harbor Signed lower right Oil on board 15 x 20 inches
Oil, Board
$7,600
H 25 in W 27 in
"Maine Coast, Ogunquit, " Ernest Albert, American Impressionism, Seascape
By Ernest Albert
Located in New York, NY
Ernest Albert (1857 - 1946) Maine Coast, Ogunquit, 1937 Oil on canvasboard 18 x 20 inches Signed and dated lower right; titled on a label on the reverse A distinguished theatrical and scenic designer who also became a landscape painter and muralist, Ernest Albert worked in New York, St. Louis, and Chicago. He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1857, and showing early talent, received the Graham Art...
Oil, Board
$36,000
H 18 in W 22 in
"Gloucester Boats" Frederick Mulhaupt, Impressionist Gloucester Scene
Located in New York, NY
Frederick John Mulhaupt Gloucester Boats Signed lower left Oil on board 12 x 16 inches Born in Rock Port, Missouri, in 1871, Mulhaupt studied...
Oil, Board
$3,875
H 21 in W 24 in D 2 in
Tod Lindenmuth (1885-1976) Antique American Impressionist Seascape Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique impressionist seascape oil painting by Tod (Raphael Leroy) Lindenmuth (1885 - 1976) . Oil on board. Framed. Signed. In excellent original condition. Handsomely framed in a...
Oil, Board
$6,500
H 18 in W 22 in
"View of Arizona Desert near Wickenberg" Will Foote, Impressionist Western Scene
Located in New York, NY
Will Foote View of Arizona Desert near Wickenberg, circa 1927 Signed lower center; titled and dated on the reverse Oil on artist's board 12 x 16 inches Foote was born on June 29, 1874 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and died on January 27, 1965, in Sarasota, Florida. He was in Old Lyme, 1901-65; and in Cos Cob, 1903. Will Howe Foote was one of the earliest artists at Old Lyme and one who adopted the town as home. He first went there the summer of 1901 with his uncle, William H. Howe, a painter of cattle, who had been told about the beauties of the countryside by Henry Ward Ranger. Foote had himself heard of Old Lyme when he had met Clark Voorhees in France. He and his uncle were both from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Foote's father was an executive in the furniture industry that made the city famous. Encouraged to be an artist by his father, he began his professional training at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1894. He became friends there with a fellow Michigan student, Frederick Frieseke, who would study with him again at the Art Students League in New York, where Foote worked in 1895-96 under H. Siddons Mowbray and Kenyon Cox. In 1897 he and Frieseke went to the Academic Julian in Paris, where Foote studied under Jean-Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant. He was at Julian's until 1900, except for an Italian trip, summers at Laren, Holland, or Etaples, France, and a short period at Whistler's school in Paris. He exhibited twice at the Old Salon, and when he returned to the United States in 1900, he had a one-man exhibition in his hometown. Will Howe Foote's paintings were well received on his return from abroad. He exhibited frequently at the National Academy of Design and became an associate member in 1910. His awards included a bronze medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904 and a silver medal at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. Once he visited Old Lyme, Foote returned every summer. In 1902 he was hired as assistant to Frank DuMond at the Lyme Summer School of Art, which was sponsored by the Art Students League of New York. Sometime in 1903 he also taught a session in Cos Cob. After 1906, when the League moved its Lyme classes to Woodstock, New York, Foote continued in Old Lyme as a private instructor. In 1907 he was married to Helen Kirtland Freeman, whom he had met a year or two earlier when she had come to the Lyme art colony as a student of Henry Rankin Poore. Fellow artist William Chadwick was best man at the wedding. The Footes began building a house on Sill Lane in Old Lyme and upon its completion in 1909 spent every spring, summer and fall there, where Foote devoted full time to painting. The Gregory Smiths, old friends from Grand Rapids, arrived in Old Lyme in 1910 and became neighbors. Foote's early works in Connecticut, such as A Summer's Night reflect the artist's interest in soft, atmospheric scenes dominated by a single, overriding tone. The arrival of Childe Hassam and Walter Griffin...
Oil, Board
$1,800
H 13.75 in W 17.75 in D 1 in
"Countryside Autumn Landscape" Colorful Landscape Oil Painting on Board Framed
By Robert Waltsak
Located in New York, NY
A wonderful impressionist Autumn pastoral scene of a breezy chilly day on the water. Waltsak has portrayed this piece in a most intimate, yet energetic way, and has packed much feeli...
Oil, Board
Forest . Cardboard, oil, 25x35 cm.
By Albert Goltjakov
Located in Riga, LV
Albert Goltyakov (1924-2016) Born in a family of workers. Studied at the Krasnoselsk Technical School of Artistic Metal Processing (1948-52), graduated from the LVMA Department of ...
Oil, Cardboard
$1,045
H 19.69 in W 31.5 in D 0.12 in
The river. Canvas, cardboard, oil, 50x80 cm
Located in Riga, LV
View from the forest to the river. Oil on cardboard, 35x50 cm Vitolds Svirskis (1919–1991) Painter, graphic designer. Born on April 27, 1919 in Daugavpils in a family of railway wo...
Oil, Cardboard
Coolness Of The Summer River Elchik
By Andrey Dmitriev
Located in Zofingen, AG
A spectacular display of impressionistic landscape painting, this original artwork celebrates the beauty of nature through texture and light. The artist uses a rich palette of deep f...
Oil, Board
$12,000
H 21 in W 25 in
"La Seine Fumee bleu, " William Samuel Horton, France, American Impressionism
By William Samuel Horton
Located in New York, NY
William Samuel Horton (1865 - 1936) La Seine Fumee bleu, Paris, France, circa 1909 Oil on canvasboard 17 x 21 inches Signed lower left A landscape painter, William Horton lived and ...
Oil, Board
Sold
H 21.66 in W 19.69 in D 0.79 in
Girl in a Hat - Late 20th Century Figurative Sketch by Roy Petley
By Roy Petley
Located in Watford, Hertfordshire
Roy Petley (born 3 April 1950 ) is a British painter. Petley paints en plein air to depict the wide expanse of English beaches and the gentle allure of Venetian landscapes. His work...
Paper, Charcoal, Mixed Media
Easter at the beach, impressionist style
By Roy Petley
Located in Segovia, ES
"Easter at the beach" oil on panel by Roy Petley The beach scenes is one of Petley' s favourite subjects, as it was for Eugène Boudin and Edward Seago, artist whom Petley receive an enormous influence. Petley has a great skilful to paint the clouds and to get very dramatic skies in motion. This landscape is perfectly balance: huge sky, very faraway skyline, families relaxing on the dunes, big animation on the beach. But the best is the happiness showed on this canvas. A painting that you don't get bored to look at every day. Dimension frame 38 cm H x 54 cm W x 4 cm D Dimension art: 20 cm H x 36 cm W About the artist: The first-born son of a large family, Roy Petley was born on 3 April 1950 in Grantham, Lincolnshire. When he was five, Petley was abandoned to the Woodlands School near Uckfield, Sussex. The school also doubled as a home for abandoned children. He escaped his rough and often violent surroundings through art, teaching himself how to paint and draw. At the age of sixteen, he received a scholarship to study art at Brighton University. But the pull of Italy and the country's old masters of art such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo proved too much. After a semester at Brighton University, he hitchhiked to Italy, settling in Florence where he eked out a living by drawing tourists who frequent the numerous cafes of the city, and studied the classics at the Uffizi Gallery and Palazzo Pitti. It was also in Florence that Petley had the chance to work with the collections of old master prints and drawings of the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi Gallery. "Roy Petley paints light; it is his passion. Every image he creates is alive with light; it reveals and conceals, taking possession of space. Whether he is painting sky, water or the human figure he uses a mass of colours revealing them through subdued lights. These colours, which arethe very material of which the light is made, pulsate with life. Roy interprets rather than reproduces nature. He does not take the viewer by the hand and point out every nuance of the view before him. He hints and cajoles; this is poetry rather than pedantry. A subject as prosaic as a Norfolk village is rendered poetic by his form, his colours and, most especially, his light. Following in the tradition of John Constable, John Sell Coteman and Edward Seago, Petley summons up the drama and lowering threat of those huge Norfolk skies which relegate mankind to a walk-on role. In depicting nature versus man he establishes an empathy with the viewer; there is almost a ‘madeleine-moment’ when we are taken back to a shared experience and want to say ‘Yes, it was justlike that!’ Constable said that he had never seen an ugly thing in his life because whatever forman object might take ‘light, shade and perspective’ would always render it beautiful. Likewise Petley’ssense of beauty is not that of the object itself but of light and shade. In his nudes the figures and the backgrounds constitute a whole; the same light which caresses the female figure also caresses the background features. At the same time he casts light as a player in the mise-en-scène of his painting, especially when he places his models contre-jour. The resulting translucence renders the nudes ethereal, almost otherworldly; they have an innocence which beguiles. There is a stillness about them which renders them unthreatening to the viewer; thereis no interchange, no sexual connotation. When he wishes to emphasise the sensual, rather than the sexual, Roy executes his nudes in sanguine. The figures in his pastoral scenes have a romantic, idealised, out-of-time quality which is veryappealing and, again, veryseductive. Wewish to share the same time and the same place with these people; we wish to be a part of the scene. This is Roy’s gift, he is able to render what he sees around him with such a straightforward and uncritical eye that we, the onlookers, are seduced into sharing with him his optimistic, unclouded view of the world". Síle Connaughton-Deeny Career Petley was only seventeen when he returned to England in 1968. At first, he headed for Belfast, Northern Ireland where the Bell Gallery provided support and encouragement for the young artist. But after some time in Ireland, Petley returned to London and succeeded in exhibiting his paintings in the galleries of the city's high-end shops, such as Liberty's and Heal's. To support his art, he worked in the art department of the Greenwich Theatre. By the age of 21, Petley left the theatre world altogether and began exhibiting his works on the railings of Green Park in London. In the 70s, the perimeter of the park was home to mostly struggling local artists selling their works to the passing public. Exhibiting on Sundays, the Green Park railings were then respectably called "The Open Air Art Show". Though this tradition still continues, railings has since been occupied by individuals peddling tourist gifts and paintings made in China. He achieved minor success with American art dealers who took great interest in his work. Following a chance encounter with The Duchess of Kent, a member of the late Queen Mother's household staff came to look at his works. Soon after William Tallon, the late Queen Mother's steward, returned to her with Petley's portrait study of Prince Charles, Petley was summoned to the Palace. Thus began the artist's long-standing friendship with the British Royals, which includes HRH The Prince of Wales, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duchess of Norfolk as his supporters. Exhibitions ensued in London and Dublin, and in places as far away as Dallas, Texas and the island of Barbados. Art In every work of art, Petley incorporates a play of light and shadows. As he moves from his natural medium of oil to watercolour or pastel to sanguine, there remains a certain youthful light emanates from his paintings. A plein air painter, his works reflect his surroundings - from the quiet beaches of Norfolk and the picturesque parks of Paris, to his subtle nudes draped with sheets and sunlight. He captures the romanticism of days gone by, with nary a modern automobile or electrical appliance blemishing his canvas. Renowned British art critic, Brian Sewell, described Petley as "a painter who still paints, who brushes watercolour onto paper and oil paint onto canvas, a painter who even settles down to draw the nude from life - an absurdly old-fashioned discipline for an artist to pursue." List of exhibitions 1968: Drawings, Bell Gallery, Belfast 1970: Liberty's Gallery, London; Heal's Gallery, London 1972: The Open Air Art Show, Green Park, London 1973: Crome Gallery, Norfolk 1975: Liberty's Gallery, London 1976: Heal's Gallery, London; One-Man Exhibition, Crome Gallery, Norwich; The Small Gallery, Norwich 1977: Crome Gallery, Norwich 1978: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Cambridge; One-Man Exhibition, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1979: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Ipswich; Watercolours of Venice, Crome Gallery, Norwich; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1980: Traveling Show, East Anglian Marine Artists, Cambridge 1981: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1982: Australian Paintings, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1983: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Fermoy Gallery, King's Lynn 1984: Figures and Flowers, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Casa de Cultura, Estepona, Spain; Alpine Gallery, London 1985: Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; One-Man Exhibition, Don Carlos Hotel, Marbella, Spain; Alpine Gallery, London; The Open Air Arts Show, Green Park, London 1986: Galeria Arte, Benehavis, Spain; Paintings from the Mediterranean, Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1987: Alpine Gallery, London; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames; Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London 1988: Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London; Century Gallery, Henley-on-Thames 1989: One-Man Exhibition, Oughertson Gallery, Barbados; Fine Art Trade Guild Gallery, London; One-Man Exhibition, Mistral Gallery, London 1990: One-Man Exhibition, Oughertson Gallery, Barbados 1991: One-Man Exhibition, Solomon Gallery, Dublin 1992: The Bruton St. Gallery, London 1993: Davis Messum, Cork St, London 1994: Davis Messum, Cork St, London (watercolours); David Messum, Cork St, London (oil paintings) 1995: Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin; David Messum, Cork St, London 1996: The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas 1997: The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas; David Messum, Cork St, London; Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin 1998: David Messum, Cork St, London; Sammer Gallery, Marbella, Spain 1999: David Messum, Cork St, London; The Victorian Gallery, Dallas, Texas 2000: David Messum, Cork St, London 2001: The Eakin Gallery, Belfast 2002: The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion, France 2003: Stables Gallery, County Antrim; Petley Fine Art, London 2004: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo; The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion 2005: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2006: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2007: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo; The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion 2008: Petley Fine Art, London & Monte Carlo 2009: Petleys 2010: Petleys 2011 - 2017 : The Little Gallery, Saint Emilion, France Collections HRH The Prince of Wales HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Her Grace The Duchess of Norfolk Durban Museum The Lord Hanson Frederick Forsyth Mr & Mrs R. K. Black HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Duchess of Kent Ulster Museum Harvard University Susan George...
Oil, Panel