26th Sep, 2023 10:00
Old Master, British and European Art
162
Sir George Reid PRSA (1841-1913)
Sir George Reid PRSA (1841-1913)
Portrait of William Holman Hunt, half-length, in a grey coat
signed with monogram u.l., oil on canvas
63 x 48.5cm
Provenance: Sotheby's, London, 16 December 1987, lot 209.
Exhibited: The New Gallery, Summer Exhibition, 1904.
The oil sketch for this painting was bequeathed by the artist to Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums in 1913, accession number ABDAG008237.
Born in Aberdeen, Sir George Reid started his career as a lithographer, before moving to Edinburgh in 1862 to study at the Trustees' Academy. Gaining the support of the Aberdeen collector, John Forbes White, Reid travelled to Holland in 1866 to study under the landscape and genre painter, Gerrit Mollinger. Around this time, he became a close friend of the realist painter Jozef Israels. Returning to Scotland in 1869, Reid started producing landscapes and portraits influenced by both Dutch and French contemporary painting. He was elected president of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1891.
Holman Hunt entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1844 where he met Millais, who was to become his closest friend. In 1848, he was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and was adherent to Pre-Raphaelite principles throughout his life; his paintings include The Hireling Shepherd, 1852, and The Light of the World, 1854. During the 1870s/80s, Hunt became increasingly isolated artistically, his later work concentrating on religious themes informed by successive visits to the Holy Land. He published his autobiographical 'Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood' in 1905. He died on 7 September 1910 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral.
Sold for £2,800
Condition Report
overall: 97 x 83cm.
The painting is executed in oil on a canvas support which is unlined. The canvas tension is slightly slack and there are minor undulations across the painting. The paint layers are in a very good condition overall. Drying cracks have formed in the red paint passages, which would have occurred as the paint layer dried, revealing the lighter ground below. The painting has a thin varnish layer which is semi-glossy and well saturating the paint layers below. Rubbing to the top and left edges. There is an area of cracking to the centre right quarter above the sitter's shoulder, please see images.
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Auction: Old Master, British and European Art, 26th Sep, 2023
Viewing
London Viewing | Highlights
A selection of lots will be on view Tuesday 5 - Saturday 9 September at our London Gallery, 15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ, as follows:
Tuesday-Friday, 11.30am - 5.30pm
Saturday, 1pm - 5pm
Sunday - Closed
For more information, please contact 0203 971 2500 | london@sworder.co.uk
Stansted Viewing | Auction
Viewing will be held at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE, as follows:
Friday 22 September, 10am - 5pm
Sunday 24 September, 10am - 1pm
Monday 25 September, 10am - 5pm
All lots are, however, extensively illustrated and carry detailed condition reports - see 'Condition report' at the foot of each lot description.
The auction will take place at our Stansted Auction Rooms, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet CM24 8GE.
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