Lot Essay
Joan of Arc taken Prisoner may well turn out to be Wheelwright's masterpiece. Born in Queensland, Australia, he was brought to England early enough to be educated at Tonbridge Grammer School. He then studied art under Herkomer at Bushey and settled nearby at Watford, later moving back to Bushey itself. His work has much in common with that of Lucy Kemp-Welch (1869-1958), another product of the Herkomer school. Both practised the same sort of romantic realism and specialised in painting horses; indeed they must have been close associates since Kemp-Welch was Wheelwright's almost exact contemporary and lived in Bushey all her working life.
Wheelwright's early pictures often have literary themes, although these were usually carefully chosen for their equine element. Our picture is one example; others are two Don Quixote subjects (RA 1904 and 1908) and Enid and Geraint (RA 1907), sold in these Rooms on 29 February 1980 (lot 190), where again the literary source requires that the figures are shown mounted. The artist's later work tends to be less interesting. By the 1920s his 'horse' subjects were modern and rather conventional. He also developed a line in girls bathing or boating - something between Dorothea Sharp and Lamorna Birch with a dash of the 'Kodak girl' thrown in.
Wheelwright exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1895 to 1938 but was never a member or associate. He also showed at the Royal Society of British Artists (member 1906), the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil-Colours, the Paris Salon and elsewhere. He was quite a prolific illustrator, tackling classics by Dumas, Fielding, Dickens, Sterne, Scott, Blackmore and others; for details, see Alan Horne, The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators, 1994, p.440.
Wheelwright's early pictures often have literary themes, although these were usually carefully chosen for their equine element. Our picture is one example; others are two Don Quixote subjects (RA 1904 and 1908) and Enid and Geraint (RA 1907), sold in these Rooms on 29 February 1980 (lot 190), where again the literary source requires that the figures are shown mounted. The artist's later work tends to be less interesting. By the 1920s his 'horse' subjects were modern and rather conventional. He also developed a line in girls bathing or boating - something between Dorothea Sharp and Lamorna Birch with a dash of the 'Kodak girl' thrown in.
Wheelwright exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1895 to 1938 but was never a member or associate. He also showed at the Royal Society of British Artists (member 1906), the Royal Institute of Painters in Oil-Colours, the Paris Salon and elsewhere. He was quite a prolific illustrator, tackling classics by Dumas, Fielding, Dickens, Sterne, Scott, Blackmore and others; for details, see Alan Horne, The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators, 1994, p.440.