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Lot Essay
Depicting a scene from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, French Artillery on the March gives an unflinching insight into the maneuvers of a 19th century army. The careworn faces of the exhausted soldier and the struggles of the horses to pull the heavy canon uphill are all clearly depicted, and the fallen horse on the roadside symbolizes the casualties of war.
An early work by Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, later Lady Butler, the present work must have been painted between 1870-1877. The cross monogram was only used by the artist between 1867-1880, and as the work is signed Elizabeth Thompson it predates her marriage to Colonel William Butler in 1877. Both her autobiography and the 1898 article The life and work of Lady Butler (Miss Elizabeth Thompson) by Walter Meynell make reference to oil paintings titled French Artillery on the March; one in 1870 and one exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1873. However, the title given for that work in the exhibition catalogue was The Ferry – French Prisoners of War, 1870. As the present picture does not appear to show prisoners or any Prussian guards and given the lack of dimensions or illustrations in the exhibition catalogue it seems unlikely that the two pictures correspond. This leaves the 1870 picture as perhaps the more likely contender, especially given the stylistic similarities with her watercolors of this date.
Elizabeth had spent much of her childhood in Italy, where she was encouraged to engage in the arts. She began her formal artistic training at sixteen taking lessons in painting in London in 1862 and subsequently enrolling at the Female School of Art at South Kensington. In 1866 she returned to take advanced classes and in 1869 travelled to Florence to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. Her early work reflected this Italian influence and one of her earliest exhibited oils was The Visitation, shown in Rome in 1870. While her diaries record her interest in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, which forced her return to England from Italy, it wasn’t until 1872 that she began to take a more serious interest in the army when she observed the autumn maneuvers at Southampton. The occasion clearly struck the young artist deeply and inspired her creatively as after this she specialized in military subjects, a fascination which marked her out from other women artists of her day.
Thompson took create pains to ensure that her paintings were accurate, choosing veterans and soldiers as models and painstakingly seeking out uniforms and equipment to in order to be correct in the smallest military details. A sketch, Soldier Watering Horses, was sold to a wealthy Manchester industrialist, Mr. Galloway. He then commissioned The Roll-Call which was considered the picture of the year at the Royal Academy of 1874. Such was its popularity that a policeman had to stand in front of the picture to hold back the crowds. The success of her depiction of the reality of the Crimean War was confirmed when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert expressed a desire to purchase The Roll-Call, and eventually Mr. Galloway was obliged to surrender the painting to the Royal Collection, where it remains today. Rather wisely Galloway insisted on retaining the rights to the prints that were made of The Roll-Call, and their popularity helped establish Lady Elizabeth Butler as the preeminent military artist of 19th century Britain.
An early work by Elizabeth Southerden Thompson, later Lady Butler, the present work must have been painted between 1870-1877. The cross monogram was only used by the artist between 1867-1880, and as the work is signed Elizabeth Thompson it predates her marriage to Colonel William Butler in 1877. Both her autobiography and the 1898 article The life and work of Lady Butler (Miss Elizabeth Thompson) by Walter Meynell make reference to oil paintings titled French Artillery on the March; one in 1870 and one exhibited at the Dudley Gallery in 1873. However, the title given for that work in the exhibition catalogue was The Ferry – French Prisoners of War, 1870. As the present picture does not appear to show prisoners or any Prussian guards and given the lack of dimensions or illustrations in the exhibition catalogue it seems unlikely that the two pictures correspond. This leaves the 1870 picture as perhaps the more likely contender, especially given the stylistic similarities with her watercolors of this date.
Elizabeth had spent much of her childhood in Italy, where she was encouraged to engage in the arts. She began her formal artistic training at sixteen taking lessons in painting in London in 1862 and subsequently enrolling at the Female School of Art at South Kensington. In 1866 she returned to take advanced classes and in 1869 travelled to Florence to study at the Academy of Fine Arts. Her early work reflected this Italian influence and one of her earliest exhibited oils was The Visitation, shown in Rome in 1870. While her diaries record her interest in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, which forced her return to England from Italy, it wasn’t until 1872 that she began to take a more serious interest in the army when she observed the autumn maneuvers at Southampton. The occasion clearly struck the young artist deeply and inspired her creatively as after this she specialized in military subjects, a fascination which marked her out from other women artists of her day.
Thompson took create pains to ensure that her paintings were accurate, choosing veterans and soldiers as models and painstakingly seeking out uniforms and equipment to in order to be correct in the smallest military details. A sketch, Soldier Watering Horses, was sold to a wealthy Manchester industrialist, Mr. Galloway. He then commissioned The Roll-Call which was considered the picture of the year at the Royal Academy of 1874. Such was its popularity that a policeman had to stand in front of the picture to hold back the crowds. The success of her depiction of the reality of the Crimean War was confirmed when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert expressed a desire to purchase The Roll-Call, and eventually Mr. Galloway was obliged to surrender the painting to the Royal Collection, where it remains today. Rather wisely Galloway insisted on retaining the rights to the prints that were made of The Roll-Call, and their popularity helped establish Lady Elizabeth Butler as the preeminent military artist of 19th century Britain.