.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Much remains obscure about Green's career, but these watercolours are clear evidence that he travelled and had a keen eye for a picturesque view or detail. No doubt many such sketches were made with no further motive than to gather background material for his illustrations.
Despite its name, Stokesay Castle is a superb early example of a fortified manor house as distinct from a castle. Owned after the Conquest by the Montgomerys, it was acquired and rebuilt in the late 13th Century by Lawrence, a wool merchant in nearby Ludlow. A Jacobean gatehouse was added in 1629. Green proabably visited it when it was owned by the Alcroft family, who bought it in 1869. Restored by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings, it was opened to the public in 1908.
The Belgian city of Bruges, home of Memling and Van Eyck, attracted many 19th Century artists and writers. Rossetti was there in 1849, William Morris in 1854, but perhaps its greatest appeal was to the Symbolist generation. George Rodenbach's evocative and influential novel Bruge-la-Morté appeared in 1892. Fernand Khnopff was haunted by the town's lonely streets, and Alfred Gilbert and Frank Brangwyn were long-term residents.
Despite its name, Stokesay Castle is a superb early example of a fortified manor house as distinct from a castle. Owned after the Conquest by the Montgomerys, it was acquired and rebuilt in the late 13th Century by Lawrence, a wool merchant in nearby Ludlow. A Jacobean gatehouse was added in 1629. Green proabably visited it when it was owned by the Alcroft family, who bought it in 1869. Restored by the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings, it was opened to the public in 1908.
The Belgian city of Bruges, home of Memling and Van Eyck, attracted many 19th Century artists and writers. Rossetti was there in 1849, William Morris in 1854, but perhaps its greatest appeal was to the Symbolist generation. George Rodenbach's evocative and influential novel Bruge-la-Morté appeared in 1892. Fernand Khnopff was haunted by the town's lonely streets, and Alfred Gilbert and Frank Brangwyn were long-term residents.