The Divers

Details

Robert Anning Bell, R.A. (1863-1933)
The Divers
signed and dated 'Robert Anning Bell. 1910' (lower left) and further signed and inscribed 'The Divers/ Robert Anning Bell/ East Hagbourne/ L84' (on an old label attached to the backboard)
pencil and watercolour with gum arabic on paper laid down on canvas
20 1/8 x 30 in. (51.1 x 76.2 cm.)

Exhibited

London, Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, 1910, no. 150.
Venice, International Exhibition, 1912.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present watercolour, dating from 1910, is similar in composition and palette to Learning to Walk (see J. Christian (ed.), The Last Romantics, exhibition catalogue, London, 1989, p. 156, no. 244). It is executed in Bells’ 'Florentine Style’ which he adopted around this date in other works such as his Royal Academy diploma submission The Women Going to the Sepulchre (1912). The lack of depth to the scene also shows Bell’s interest in low relief sculpture and frescoes. His interest in Italian art was amplified by his extended travels in Italy.

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