Richard Taylor Fine Art

This stunning British Victorian Pre-Raphaelite Royal Academy exhibited oil painting is by noted historical female artist and suffragette Jessie MacGregor. She was tutored by Lord Frederick Leighton at the Royal Academy art schools in the 1870's and his influence can be seen here. Painted in 1892 and exhibited that year, the subject matter is when Dante, (1265-1321) later an Italian Florentine poet, first met Beatrice, the love of his life when he was nine. They met in a gathering at her father's palazzo in Florence. She was a few months younger than Dante and dressed in a crimson dress. They never actually spoke for another nine years although Dante often observed her. They were both married off during this time, as was the custom then and Beatrice died aged only 24. Dante remained devoted to Beatrice for the rest of his life and she was his principal inspiration for much of his well known work, such as La Vita Nuova (The New Life) and La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy). (see below biography for more details on Dante and Beatrice). This stunning Pre-Raphaelite oil painting depicts Beatrice kneeling on the grass, holding flowers and gazing up at Dante as he stands beside her, hands over her head, perhaps miming crowning her. Other children and their maids dance around them. Beyond them is a Florentine garden with beautiful arches and some figures to the right. To the left one can glimpse the landscape under a summer's sky. MacGregor has portrayed superb detail in the figures expressions and clothing with rich red and gold tones and the vivid blue sky echoing in the little boy's tunic. The brushwork is fantastic. MacGregor painted some fantastic paintings in her time, many of which were exhibited and now hang in art galleries. This painting is a superb example of her work, with excellent provenance and would grace any wall. Signed twice 'Jessie Macgregor/1892' lower right. Provenance. Anon. sale, Sotheby's, Belgravia, 11 December 1972, lot 195. Exhibited London, Royal Academy, 1892, no. 905 entitled In the Childhood of Dante. From this time forward love ruled my heart. Literature Royal Academy Illustrated, 1892, p. 78. Condition. Oil on canvas, 65 inches by 35 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt frame with ornate flower corners and reeded edge, 87 inches by 57 inches, in good condition. Jessie MacGregor (1847–1919) was a British painter. She was born in Liverpool to a Scottish father, Alexander (1820-1898) and Liverpudlian mother, Sarah (1820-1894). She had an older brother and 7 younger siblings. MacGregor first learned drawing at the drawing academy in Liverpool run by her grandfather Andrew Hunt, a landscape painter. Her mother taught her to use water colours. Her parents went to live in London and she began to study painting there, becoming a pupil at the Royal Academy Schools in 1870 for seven years where her teachers were Lord Leighton, P. H. Calderon, R.A., and John Pettie, R.A. She won a gold medal at the Royal Academy for history painting in December 1871, the prescribed subject being An Act of Mercy. She was the second woman after Louisa Starr's gold medal in 1867, and the last woman to do so until 1909. She first exhibited at the RA whilst still a student, in 1871. She continued with a historical genre when history paintings were broadening their reach towards literature and romance. Her subjects were almost always women or children. MacGregor was made an Academician for the Liverpool Academy of Art in 1874. By 1880 she was using a studio on Elm Tree Road and exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy. in 1884 her brother Archibald also started working from this address and they both had paintings at the RA that year. In 1888 she moved studio to Hill Road St John's Wood. In 1892 MacGregor had two painting at the RA, a portrait of Miss Phyllis Eden and our painting, In the Childhood of Dante. This was described as a fresh bit of Italian Childhood and harmonious colour grouping by the Western Daily Press. Portraits rarely got a mention in the papers but narrative works were much more popular. She lectured widely for the Victorian University extension scheme at the Arts Clubs of Liverpool, the National Gallery and Leighton House museum and other regional centres. MacGregor had a studio in Chalcot Gardens Hampstead from 1900 and began to get involved with women's issues. In 1904 she was on the committee of the Lyceum Club London along side Henrietta...

This gorgeous Scottish Victorian landscape oil painting is by noted artist Robert McGown Coventry, also known as Robert Coventry. Painted circa 1890 it is a spring Highland landscape...

This lovely British Victorian landscape oil painting is by artist William M Davies. It was painted in 1895 and the location, inscribed verso, is Loch Restil Glen Croe in Scotland. In...

This atmospheric exhibited Scottish Impressionist Victorian landscape oil painting is by noted Glasgow Boy artist Robert Macaulay Stevenson. Painted circa 1899 the theme is one close...

This superb, large British Victorian portrait in an interior oil painting is attributed to circle of Ralph Peacock. Peacock painted a large number of children of wealthy 19th century families, often with luscious ornate backgrounds and textiles such as the wall paper, marquetry piano...

This charming British Old Master exhibited landscape oil painting is by noted artist John Rathbone. It was painted in 1800 and exhibited at the Royal Academy London the same year so ...

This stunning Scottish Victorian portrait oil painting is by noted artist Robert Fowler. Painted circa 1893 the composition is of a blonde haired maiden in the foreground, dressed in...

This lovely Scottish Victorian Impressionist oil painting is by noted Kirkcudbright artist William Mouncey. Painted circa 1890 it is a landscape of a shepherd and his flock under tre...

This lovely British Victorian portrait oil painting is by British portrait artist Edward Spilsbury Swinson. It was painted in 1891 and is dated and signed lower right. It is a half l...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...

An original large abstract oil on canvas by British Canadian artist William John Bertram Newcombe. This stunning abstract expressionist oil in blues and greys is a bold, adventurous ...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...

This superb oil painting of horses is by Scottish female artist Doris Zinkeisen. Painted circa 1960 the composition has six horses in a landscape. There is great impasto and brushwor...

This striking large conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging six...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1962. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...

This stunning British Victorian portrait oil painting is by noted female artist Annie Louisa Swynnerton. The sitter is Emma Woods, nee King (1806-1896). Emma was the wife of Samuel ...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...

This stunning Scottish oil painting is by noted landscape artist Douglas Falconer. Painted circa 1960 the composition is of a seated golden eagle in a mountainous highland landscape....

This amazing large 1963 abstract landscape mixed media composition is by Greek artist Valerios Caloutsis. His work is similar to Lucio Fontana, Spatialist. This movement focused on t...

This stunning abstract expressionist oil on canvas is by artist Helen M Hale. Painted in the 1960's this abstract landscape has strong brushwork and blocks of colour. Labelled verso...

This charming British Victorian portrait oil painting is by noted portrait artist Gilbert Baldry. A half length portrait painted in 1892, the sitter is a young boy in a red coat with...

This lovely floral landscape oil painting is by artist Elsie Bye- Rawson. Painted circa 1960 the view is looking down from Newlyn and along the coast to Penzance in Cornwall. St Mary...

This superb abstract painting is by American abstract artist Roger Bruinekool. Painted in 1962 it is a square mixed media/oil on board with great impa...

This superb Welsh abstract oil painting is by noted artist Thomas John Nash, better known as Tom Nash. It was painted in 1963 and is entitled on a gallery lab...

This vibrant abstract oil painting is by Italian born but South African based artist Armando Baldinelli. It was painted circa 1960 after Baldinelli left Italy for South Africa and wa...

This fantastic Sixties abstract oil painting on paper on canvas is by noted South African artist Douglas Portway. Although born in South Africa, as he ...

This superb British Abstract oil painting is by noted artist Christopher Sturgess-Lief. Painted in 1961 it is an evocative and captivating abstract using the highly individualised sy...

An original ink on canvas by Theodore Mendez who played an important role in the Post War British art movement and the Post Modern art movement. This simple yet stunning work, circa ...

This striking Abstract Expressionist sixties composition is by Danish artist Erling Andersen. Painted in 1969 it is a mixed media composition on canvas...

A superb, detailed and meticulous egg tempera oil on panel from around 1960 by Stuart Maxwell Armfield. The painting depicts a flock of seagulls in a bold, strong and surreal colouri...

This superb Scandinavian abstract art oil painting is by Danish artist Borg Herman Hansen. It was painted in 1961 and is entitled verso Klippe Fragment meaning rock fragment. It is p...

A large impressive original Victorian oil painting which was painted circa 1890 by Scottish listed artist Joseph Farquharson RA. This Romantic Scottish landscape view is in fine condition and is framed in a Victorian gilt gallery frame. He was a noted landscape painter of snow scenes around Finzean in Aberdeenshire and often painted at dusk or dawn. This painting however depicts a sublime Scottish river landscape with a river and the mountains in the background. It is a very expansive panoramic view. A large painting in good condition and a lovely example of a 19th century Scottish landscape. Similar examples of his paintings are on display in Kelvingrove Art Gallery Glasgow and the National Gallery Scotland. Signed Joseph Farquharson. Provenance. Scottish collection. Condition. Oil on canvas. Image size is 37 inches by 27 inches, fine condition. Framed size is 44 by 34 inches, housed in a gilt gallery frame. Excellent condition. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1846, Joseph Farquharson combined a long and prolific career as a painter with his inherited role as a Scottish laird. He painted in both oils and water colors. His mother, a celebrated beauty, was an Ainslie. His early days were spent in his father's house in Northumberland Street below Queen Street Gardens and later at Eaton Terrace beyond the Dean Bridge, Edinburgh and at Finzean. His father Francis was a doctor and laird of Finzean in Aberdeenshire. Joseph was educated in Edinburgh and permitted by his father to paint only on Saturdays using his father’s paint box. When Joseph reached the age of 12, Francis Farquharson bought his son his first paints he could call his own and only a year later he exhibited his first painting at the Royal Scottish Academy. His first major portrait was of ' Miss Alice...

This vibrant British abstract is by noted artist Peter L Field. Painted circa 1960, the composition in reds has relief sculptural impasto. The red works ...

This very striking exhibited Scottish Abstract oil painting is by influential Scottish artist Jack Knox. Painted in 1964, it is a vivid mix of autumnal colours, textures and brushwork that work perfectly. A brilliant example of his work from the early sixties and which was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1965. Titled and dated 21.2.64 lower right. Provenance. Exhibited Royal Scottish Academy, Exhibition 1965, Edinburgh. Condition. Oil on canvas, 51 inches by 36 inches unframed and in good condition. Housed in a gilt sixties surround frame, 53 inches by 38 inches framed and in good condition. Jack Knox RSA (1936-2015) was one of the most influential artists to work in Scotland in the second half of the twentieth century. Born John Knox to a family of tailors in Kirkintilloch, Knox studied at the Glasgow School of Art (1953-57) where his drawings were noted for their mature draughtsmanship. After graduating, Knox went to Paris to attend the atelier of Cubist artist, André L’Hȏte. During his time in Europe Knox digested the various art movements of the moment, including Surrealism, Tachisme, Colour Field and Pop Art. Visiting the great museums, he was particularly interested in Analytic Cubism and Georges Braque’s intimation, rather than description, of object. He also went to Brussels to visit the first major show of American Abstract Expressionism in Europe. He returned to Scotland eager to establish his own style, drawing on everything he had seen in Europe. In 1960 the Glasgow Herald presented an exhibition during the Edinburgh Festival of young artists from the west of Scotland. Knox was selected to show alongside George Devlin, Carole Gibbons, Anda Patterson, Douglas Abercrombie and Duncan...

An original oil and spray paint on paper by Denis Bowen who played an important role in the Post War British art movement. This simple yet stunning work dates to 1962. Signed and dated verso. Provenance. Northern collection. Condition. Oil and spray paint on paper. Image size 26 inches by 18 inches and in fine gallery condition. Housed in a simple black gallery frame in excellent condition, 28 inches by 20 inches. Denis Bowen (1921-2006) was a South African artist, gallery director and promoter of abstract and avant-garde art in Britain. He was founder of the New Vision Group and the New Vision Centre Gallery, both of which played an important role in the post-World War II British art scene. Denis Bowen was born on 5 April 1921 in Kimberley, South Africa. His father was Welsh and his mother English. After being orphaned at a young age, Bowen moved to England where he was raised by his aunt in Huddersfield. He enrolled at the Huddersfield School of Art in 1936. After serving in the Navy in World War II, Bowen resumed his art studies at the Royal College of Art in London in 1946. Between 1940 and 1986 Bowen taught art at numerous institutions including: the Kingston Institute of Art, Hammersmith School of Art, Birmingham School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. In 1951 Bowen founded the New Vision Group, which initially emerged from meetings and displays that he organised with his students in 1951. In 1955, Bowen worked alongside Frank Avray Wilson and Halima Nalecz...

An original circa 1960 oil on canvas female portrait painting by Royal Academy artist Christopher Sanders. A fine example of a Modern British portrait. In good condition and framed i...

This vibrant British abstract is by noted artist Peter L Field. Painted circa 1960, the composition is in blues and yellow/browns with Field's striking h...

This striking Abstract Expressionist sixties composition is by Danish artist Erling Andersen. Painted in 1969 it is a mixed media composition on canvas...

This superb sixties large British abstract oil painting is by noted female artist Anne Dunn. Painted in 1966 it is an abstract composition in a palette of brown orange and blacks on white showing British St Ives School influences of Terry Frost and British Abstraction. An interesting sixties vibrant abstract and an excellent example of Dunn's work. Signed and dated 66 lower right. Provenance. London estate. Condition. Oil on board, 30 inches by 25 inches unframed, in good condition. Framed in a gallery float mount frame 40 inches by 35 inches. Excellent condition. Anne Dunn (born 4 September 1929) is an English artist associated with the second generation of the School of London. Born in London, England, Dunn is the daughter of the Canadian steel magnate Sir James Dunn, 1st baronet (1874–1956) and his second wife, Irene Clarice Richards, a former musical-comedy actress who had previous been married to Francis Douglas, 11th Marquess of Queensberry. Dunn studied in London at Chelsea School of Art (1949–50) and at the Anglo-French Centre (1952) under Henry Moore and guest artist Fernand Léger before going to the Académie Julian in Paris, France in 1952. Dunn's art has been exhibited in Europe and North America and can be seen at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick, the Arts Council Collection in London, and many private collections. Two drawings and two paintings are in the Government Art Collection: U.K. Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Her first solo show was at the Leicester Galleries of London in 1957, with subsequent shows there in 1959, 1960, 1962, and 1964. Thereafter her major exhibitions took place in New York with shows at the Fischbach Gallery in 1967, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1989. In 1990 Dunn had a solo show at the Christopher Hull Gallery in London. Her most recent solo show was in 2005 at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York. Her close friendships with poets resulted in illustrations and covers for books by John Ashbery, William Corbett, Barbara Guest and James Schuyler...

This superb, large British Victorian oil painting is by noted Newlyn and Menton artist Arthur Alfred Burrington. It was painted circa 1890 when Burrington was most likely in Newlyn, ...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963 in black on a grey background. The shapes appear to be floating or flying, ...

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, com...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1963 in black on a grey background. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual i...

This striking conceptual abstract oil painting is by British artist Penelope Ellis. It was painted in 1962. A superb image and ahead of the conceptual ideas of the swinging sixties a...