Leonard Campbell Taylor

Leonard Campbell Taylor, RA, ROI, RP (British, 1874-1969) Portrait of Miss Joy Lyon signed 'L.Campbell Taylor' (lower left), signed and inscribed on the reverse, also inscribed with artist's name and address on a label attached to the reverse oil on canvas 91.5 x 71cm (36 x 27 15/16in). Footnote: PROVENANCE: Sale, Phillips London, 18 June 1985, lot 50 Private collection, Italy EXHIBITED: London, Royal Academy, 1930, no. 489

Leonard Campbell Taylor (British, 1874-1969) Dazzle-painted ships, including Aquitania , in the Mersey off the Liverpool waterfront signed 'L. Campbell Taylor' (lower left) oil on canvas 58.4 x 91.4cm (23 x 36in). This view of R.M.S. Aquitania laid up in Liverpool Docks, and other vessels steaming down the Mersey distils the essence of 'dazzle-painting' more vividly than words can describe. Conceived by the prominent marine artist Norman Wilkinson (1878-1971) whilst he was serving as a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1917, the idea behind the so-called 'dazzle-painting' of ships was to confuse enemy gunners and, more particularly, submariners into miscalculating a vessel's course and speed so as to lessen its vulnerability as a target. Experimentation rapidly proved it to be a brilliant concept and it was soon adopted by the Royal Navy as well as the Merchant Marine for whom it was originally intended. Its success also brought Wilkinson to official notice to the extent that, when the Second World War began in 1939, he was appointed Inspector of Camouflage with the rank of Air Commodore. Arguably the most successful of the great pre-1914 North Atlantic liners, as well as being widely regarded as the most handsome of all the legendary 'four-stackers', Aquitania was undeniably the longest-lived of that glamorous breed of ocean greyhounds. Conceived as a consort to Lusitania and Mauretania , Cunard ordered her from John Brown's Clydebank yards in December 1910 where she was launched on 21st April 1913. Named for the ancient Roman province in south-west France, her design was broadly similar to her two sisters although she was significantly larger in every respect. Registered upon completion at 45,647 tons gross, she measured 901 feet in length with a 97 foot beam, but was never intended to outstrip Lusitania and Mauretania in terms of speed. Clearing Liverpool for her maiden voyage to New York on 30th May 1914, she had only completed three round trips when War was declared and she found herself requisitioned for a variety of roles beginning as a troopship. Soon afterwards converted to a hospital ship, she then reverted to trooping in 1916 but was laid up at Liverpool for most of 1917 before returning to service carrying U.S. troops to France in 1918. Surviving the War only to spend the next one in similar vein, she ended her career with a one-class Southampton to Halifax (Nova Scotia) service until finally scrapped in 1950.

Leonard Campbell Taylor, RA, ROI, RP (British, 1874-1969) Portrait of Miss Joy Lyon signed 'L.Campbell Taylor' (lower left), signed and inscribed on the reverse, also inscribed with artist's name and address on a label attached to the reverse oil on canvas 91.5 x 71cm (36 x 27 15/16in). Footnote: PROVENANCE: Sale, Phillips London, 18 June 1985, lot 50 Private collection, Italy EXHIBITED: London, Royal Academy, 1930, no. 489

Lot 445 Lot 445 Description LEONARD CAMPBELL TAYLOR(1874-1969) Crowds watching the Rocket on her first journey toStockton, signed, gouache and watercolour, 18 1/2" x 25 1/2" Provenance: J & R Edmiston Auctioneers, The Mart, 166A Bath Street, Glasgow, Wednesday 7thDecember 1960, Lot 135. The lot is sold together with copyof this catalogue. Estimate: £2,000 - 3,000 Print-friendly version of this page Jump to lot number

LEONARD CAMPBELL TAYLOR R.A. BRITISH, 1874-1969 DESCRIPTION signed l.r.: L. Campbell. Taylor- oil on canvas CATALOGUE NOTE This charming study of a beautiful young model arranging narcissi in an elegant interior, probably dates from the first decade of the twentieth century when Taylor painted a series of pictures which have been described as; 'small panels with which the artist first drew attention to his individual art, and endeared it to a distinguished public who knew that the telling of a story is not the primary function of a work of the visual - as distinct from the literary arts.' (Herbert Furst, L. Campbell Taylor, R.A. - His Place in Art, 1945, p. 60)