Lot Essay
The picture dates from the months immediately following Cole's election to full membership of the Royal Academy in June 1880. Late in 1879 his dealer William Agnew commissioned him to paint a series of views of the Thames from its source to the sea. This series was to be his crowning achievement and accounts for all but a handful of the paintings he exhibited until his death in 1893.
The artist's diary for 1880-81 records work on a number of subjects on the river at Wargrave. This included numerous separate studies of trees and plants, among them 'loose strife and docks', 'water-lilies', 'arrow-heads', 'reeds and osiers' and other details such as the ferry boat. Many of these details were incorporated in a large canvas exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881 with the title Wargrave and recorded in the artist's diary as 'looking up from below the boathouse'. The painting was begun on 6 August 1880 but not completed, according to the artist's habit, until shortly before the submission date in March 1881.
On 9 October 1880 Vicat Cole began work on the present work, a smaller painting of the same subject seen from a viewpoint a few yards further upstream. His diary records the subject as 'Looking from the Wharf Wargrave up the river'. In spite of constant wet weather, the painting was completed on 25 November 1880. It was characteristic of Cole to clarify the composition of a large canvas through working on a smaller scale. As in the present instance, the smaller works often preserve the spontaneity of direct observation, while the 'six-footers' tend to suffer from being overworked.
Cole's biographer Robert Chignell records that Wargrave was the last work the artist completed largely on the spot, rather than in his Kensington studio. The water-level viewpoint suggests that both smaller and larger versions of the subject were painted on board 'The Blanche', Cole's small steam-boat, which he used as a locomotive studio, and which was a familiar and much commented-upon sight on the Thames during the 1880s.
Chignell's description of the Academy painting vividly captures the enthusiasm with which these images were received: 'Trees, river and sky form the greater part of the subject, but the essence of the picture is its sweet, radiant light. Vicat Cole was always especially happy in representing all these in their perfection. His trees are living trees, as perfect in design, proportion and form as Greek statues; these qualities, together with depth of light and shade and truth of tone and colour, render them unequalled in landscape art. His power in depicting the surface of water and reflections in all their subtle delicacy has been frequently noticed and is well illustrated in this picture; as are also the fine drawing and perspective which, combined with luminous splendour, give to his skies their singular beauty of effect'.
We are grateful to Timothy Barringer for preparing this catalogue entry.
The artist's diary for 1880-81 records work on a number of subjects on the river at Wargrave. This included numerous separate studies of trees and plants, among them 'loose strife and docks', 'water-lilies', 'arrow-heads', 'reeds and osiers' and other details such as the ferry boat. Many of these details were incorporated in a large canvas exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881 with the title Wargrave and recorded in the artist's diary as 'looking up from below the boathouse'. The painting was begun on 6 August 1880 but not completed, according to the artist's habit, until shortly before the submission date in March 1881.
On 9 October 1880 Vicat Cole began work on the present work, a smaller painting of the same subject seen from a viewpoint a few yards further upstream. His diary records the subject as 'Looking from the Wharf Wargrave up the river'. In spite of constant wet weather, the painting was completed on 25 November 1880. It was characteristic of Cole to clarify the composition of a large canvas through working on a smaller scale. As in the present instance, the smaller works often preserve the spontaneity of direct observation, while the 'six-footers' tend to suffer from being overworked.
Cole's biographer Robert Chignell records that Wargrave was the last work the artist completed largely on the spot, rather than in his Kensington studio. The water-level viewpoint suggests that both smaller and larger versions of the subject were painted on board 'The Blanche', Cole's small steam-boat, which he used as a locomotive studio, and which was a familiar and much commented-upon sight on the Thames during the 1880s.
Chignell's description of the Academy painting vividly captures the enthusiasm with which these images were received: 'Trees, river and sky form the greater part of the subject, but the essence of the picture is its sweet, radiant light. Vicat Cole was always especially happy in representing all these in their perfection. His trees are living trees, as perfect in design, proportion and form as Greek statues; these qualities, together with depth of light and shade and truth of tone and colour, render them unequalled in landscape art. His power in depicting the surface of water and reflections in all their subtle delicacy has been frequently noticed and is well illustrated in this picture; as are also the fine drawing and perspective which, combined with luminous splendour, give to his skies their singular beauty of effect'.
We are grateful to Timothy Barringer for preparing this catalogue entry.