Briton Riviere

Briton Riviere, R.A. (1840-1920) The Sheepstealer signed with monogram and dated '18/84' (lower right) oil on canvas 55 x 92 in. (139.7 x 233.7 cm.) Sir John Aird, Bt. (1833-1911), and thence by decent to the present owner. J.F. Boyes, 'The Private Art Collections of London: Mr John Aird's, in Hyde Park Terrace', Art Journal, 1891, pp. 138-9. London, Royal Academy, 1885, no. 24. The Sheepstealer was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1885 and was bought by Sir John Aird, Bt., M.P. (1833-1911), in whose family it has remained until the present day. Aird was a wealthy contractor whose career embraced the removal of the Crystal Palace to Sydenham, the completion of the Manchester Ship Canal, and the building of the great dam at Aswan. Aird's achievements brought him a baronetcy and a seat in Parliament. His handsome house at 14 Hyde Park Terrace was furnished with a fine collection of modern British pictures and he was often referred to as 'St John Aird of the Large Heart' for his support of artists, from whom he commissioned works. Like the Liverpool ship owner F.R. Leyland, he tended to favour large imposing works of obvious importance, but whereas Leyland chose the Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic masters, Aird's taste was more academic. Leighton, Poynter, Alma-Tadema, Orchardson, Waterhouse, Marcus Stone and Luke Fildes were represented in the collection in addition to Dicksee, whose Chivalry (sold in these Rooms, 13 December 2012, lot 11 (£577,250)). The bulk of his collection passed to his son Sir John Renton Aird, Bt, and was subsequently dispersed at his sale at Christie's in 1935. The sale included Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's The Roses of Heliogabalus and The Finding of Moses.

Briton Riviere, R.A., R.E. (1840-1920) The lions roaring after their prey do seek their meat from God signed with a mongram (lower right) oil on panel 10¾ x 16½ in. (27.4 x 42 cm.) Messrs. Gooden & Fox, London. Charles Winn Esq, 1917 The First Lord Leverhulme. The Collection of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, 1958.

Briton Riviere, RA (British, 1840-1920) To the hills signed with monogram and dated '1901.4' (lower left), signed and inscribed with title on artist's label (on reverse) oil on canvas 112 x 163cm (44 1/8 x 64 3/16in). PROVENANCE: with M. Newman, London Sale, Bonhams London, 26 March 2002, lot 101 Private collection, UK EXHIBITED: London, Royal Academy, 1901, No. 179

Briton Riviere, RA (British, 1840-1920) To the hills signed with monogram and dated '1901.4' (lower left), signed and inscribed with title on artist's label (on reverse) oil on canvas 44 x 64 3/16 in. (112 x 163 cm.) PROVENANCE: with M. Newman, London Sale, Bonhams London, 26 March 2002, lot 101 Private collection, UK EXHIBITED: London, Royal Academy, 1901, No. 179

LOT 48 BRITON RIVIÈRE, R.A. 1840-1920 WAR TIME signed and dated l.r.: Briton Riviére/ 1874; inscribed with thetitle on an old label attached to the reverse oil on canvas 25,000—35,000 GBP 110.5 by 126 cm., 43 1/2 by 49 1/2 in. signed and dated l.r.: Briton Riviére/ 1874; inscribed with thetitle on an old label attached to the reverse oil on canvas Edward North Buxton M.P., of Knighton, Buckhurst Hill, his saleChristie's, 10 March 1916, lot 93 Royal Academy, 1875, no.89 Briton Riviére was particularly fond of collie dogs and paintedseveral paintings of sheep dogs, including Lost or Strayed ,The Long Sleep , Old Playfellows and Rus in Urbe (sold in these rooms, 12 June 2003, lot 259) in which ayoung shepherd and his dog are seated in the doorway of a townhouse, each perturbed by the urban clamour around them. Riviére'sart became extremely popular after he took up the mantle of thelate Sir Edwin Landseer and painted sensitive depictions of animalsand people in which the beasts emphasise the portrayals of humanemotion. Perhaps his most famous work is Prisoners alsoknown as Fidelity of 1869 (Lady Lever Art Gallery, PortSunlight) in which a young poacher and his dog await trial in abare prison cell. The sympathy of the faithful dog for his mastercaught the imagination of the Victorian public and it was a similarappeal to that of Landseer's Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner (Victoria and Albert Museum). Riviére's biographer Walter Armstronghas described the artist's ability to depict emotion in theexpressions of his animals without overly anthropomorphising them;'Speaking of him broadly as an artist, Riviére's strong points arehis sympathy with animals, his pleasant sense of colour, hisdirectness of conception, and his fine vein of poetry. The first ofthese saves him from that besetting sin of the English animalier,the dressing up in human sentiments, and the setting among humanconditions, of the lower animals. His sympathy with dogs is toothorough to permit of their degradation into half-taught actors. Hepaints them for what they are, a symbol of what man was once, therough material of civilisation with virtues and vices yet unbluntedby convention... His interest, in fact, is in the animal's realself.' (Walter Armstrong, Briton Riviére, Royal Academician, HisLife and Work, special edition of The Art Annual, 1891, p. 24) Riviére captured a similar sentiment in War Time in whichan old shepherd has received bad news from the front whilst hisloyal collie looks on having followed his master into the snowcovered farmyard. The painting illustrates the lines of Riviére'sbrother-in-law the English poet and dog breeder Sydney ThompsonDobell (1824-1874);"Over valley and woldWherever I turn my headThere's a mildew and a mould,The sun's going out overhead,And I'm very old,And Tommy's dead' War Time was bought by Edward North Buxton (1840-1924)the British conservationist and politician. He was the third son ofSir Edward North Buxton, 2nd Baronet (1812-1858) and his wife,Catherine Gurney. Buxton was elected Liberal MP for the Walthamstowconstituency in 1885-6. He advocated the provision of open,accessible land with a particular interest in providing space closeto cities. With his brother Thomas, he played a major role inconserving the forests Epping, Hainault and Hatfield for publicuse.