The Little Copse Wood (Elijah and the Ravens?)

One of the artist's largest known works, the picture was entitled The Little Copse Wood when it appeared in Christopher Wood's Hallward exhibition in 1984. The related drawing, which unmistakably bears this legend (lot 293), was included in the same show, so the title seemed logical enough. Nonetheless, it was not altogether appropriate to such a monumental canvas, and when the picture was lent to the Last Romantics exhibition in 1989, the title was changed to Elijah and the Ravens. This in broad terms seemed to fit the iconography (Elijah was fed by ravens after calling down a drought on Israel to punish King Ahab), and any doubts about whether the youthful protagonist could be seen as an Old Testament prophet were allayed by considerations of artistic licence. Furthermore, the subject had been treated by Burne-Jones, who probably had some influence on Hallward's style. Indeed the briars in the foreground of our picture appear to be a reference to those in the older artist's Briar Rose series (Faringdon Collection, Buscot Park, Oxfordshire). These famous paintings were much reproduced, and Hallward may well have seen the works themselves when they were exhibited to great acclaim at Agnew's in 1890.

Here we hedge our bets and leave the question of the picture's title open for the time being. It would help if we knew whether painting or drawing came first. If the drawing is earlier, then the painting would clearly depend on it and presumably have the same title. If, on the other hand, the drawing is later than the painting, then it may well adapt the composition to a totally different purpose. It would also of course be invaluable to identify the book or story for which the drawing seems to be a title-page illustration. The most likely guess is that it will turn out to be something by Hallward or his wife, Adelaide Bloxham, that was published at the Woodlands Press, the private press that he ran at Shorne, near Gravesend, circa 1895-1913.