John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) - Watercolour sketch - "Interior at Pompeii", 8.5ins x 11.75ins, unsigned, in modern walnut and gilt moulded frame and glazed Provenance : By family descent from artist to vendor - Exhibited at The Mappin Art Gallery, Weston Park, Sheffield, 14th October to 19th November 1978, No. 34

John William Waterhouse, R.A. (1848-1917) A street in Capri signed and inscribed 'J.W.Waterhouse/Capri' (lower right) and further inscribed 'A Street/in Capri' (on the stretcher) oil on canvas 17½ x 9 1/8 in. (44.5 x 23.2 cm.) John William Waterhouse, R.A. (+); Christie's, London, 23 July 1926, lot 70 (1½ gns to Nicholl, with 'A Venetian Girl'). Born in Rome, Waterhouse felt a natural affinity with Italy, returning at various stages of his career. Largely undiscovered by tourists owing to its inaccessibility, Capri became a mecca for artists owing to its natural beauty. Leighton first visited in 1859, Sargent in 1878, and Waterhouse by 1888. All were struck by the extraordinary quality of the light, recorded by Leighton in a series of oil sketches.

Lot Description John William Waterhouse, R.A. (1848-1917) Gossip signed 'J. W. Waterhouse' (lower left) oil on canvas 28 3/8 x 36½ in. (72.1 x 92.7 cm.) Lot Condition Report I confirm that I have read this Important Notice and agree to itsterms. View ConditionReport Provenance Isaac Smith. Gooden and Fox, 15 May 1911, (80 gns to Dalby). Literature Anthony Hobson, The Art and Life of J. W. Waterhouse R.A.,1849-1917, 1980, p.182. Exhibited Institute of Oil Painters, 1885, no. 319. Whitechapel, St Jude's, 1886, no. 188. View Lot Notes › The second half of the 1880s witnessed J. W. Waterhouse's mostintense interest in landscape and outdoor genre subjects, and hisfascination with effects of natural light. At this time he was inclose contact with a group of landscape specialists, includingWilliam Logsdail, who was a neighbour at the Primrose Hill Studios,and Frank Bramley, who Waterhouse appears to have visited inCornwall at least once. It was perhaps through this circle thatWaterhouse came to appreciate the work of Jules Bastien Lepage. Thepure landscapes and figure studies that Waterhouse made in thecourse of painting expeditions in the English countryside, andparticularly when in Italy, are adapted from the principles of theFrench artist, containing an Impressionistic feeling for thequality of light, but also being carefully arranged to give apleasing and decorative pictorial effect. Close parallels can bedrawn between this work and Lepage's most famous painting Jeanned'Arc Écoutant les Voix (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York),particularly in the depiction of the trees and the crumbling stonewalls. The observation of the wall, the foliage and themoss-covered yard is meticulous and highly accomplished, whilst thegestures of the figures are convincing and sensitively studied. Theattention to realistic harmony of colour and naturalistic detail isparamount in these early pictures, which were to an extent eclipsedby the idealism of the nymphs and sorceresses that increasinglydominated his work from the 1890s onwards. The early works ofWaterhouse bear comparison with the best work of the Newlynpainters, particularly Langley and Forbes, with whom Waterhouse wasalso associated at this time. By viewing Waterhouse as an artistconnected to the ideals of the Newlyn School, rather than as afollower of Burne-Jones and Leighton, it is clear to see that theaims of his early work were innovative, modern and progressive andthat he was striving towards a realism which was overtaken in lateryears by a quest for idealised beauty. Gossips was painted only a year after Waterhouse's great earlymasterpiece St Eulalia of 1884 (Tate Britain). It predates Mariamne(private collection) by two years, The Lady of Shallot (TateBritain) by three years and the first version of Ophelia(collection of Lord Lloyd Webber) by four years. The 1880s were,without doubt, Waterhouse's most innovative years when inspiredideas germinated and memorable paintings were undertaken. We are grateful to Peter Trippi for his help in preparing thiscatalogue entry.

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)- Oil sketch - Shoulder length self portrait(circa 1886) board 11ins x 7ins, unsigned, inmoulded frame Provenance : By family descent from the artist .Exhibited - Mappin Art Gallery, Weston Park, Sheffield 14th October - 19th November 1978 No. 42.See also Peter Trippi - "J.W. Waterhouse" published by Phaidon 2002, page 75. Unfortunately thework is incorrectly attributed in this publication.

LOT 29 PROPERTY OF A DESCENDANT OF THE ARTIST JOHN WILLIAM WATERHOUSE, R.A., R.I. 1849-1917 A NEAPOLITAN FLAX SPINNER oil on canvas 10,000—15,000 GBP 41 by 19cm.; 16 by 7½in. The artist's estate and thence by descent to the presentowner Anthony Hobson, The Art and Life of JW Waterhouse RA 1849-1917,1980, no.31, p. 180, illustrated p.35, plate. 24 A Neapolitan Flax Spinner was probably painted duringWaterhouse's visit to southern Italy in 1877 when he also paintedseveral watercolours at Pompeii. Although he had been born inItaly, his parents had moved to England when he was five years oldand the trip in 1877 was the first time he had returned. This picture is a rare early painting by Waterhouse. Unlikeother pictures of this formative period such as In the Peristyle of1874 (Rochdale Art Gallery), After the Dance of 1876 and A SickChild Brought into the Temple of Aesculapius of 1877 (both from thecollection of Sir Tim Rice), this picture depicts a contemporaryscene of Italian peasant life. However, the picture appears to havebeen based on an earlier, classically-inspired subject La Fileuseof 1874 (Bonhams, 29 September 2010, lot 143) which also depicts aflax spinner at the door of her house.