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Lot Essay
Born at Wicken in Northamptonshire, where his maternal grandfather was rector, Frank Cadogan Cowper studied art at the St John's Wood Art School and then spent five years in the Royal Academy Schools (1897-1902) before entering the Cotswold studio of Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911). After six months working with this American muralist, who, like his friend John Singer Sargent, had taken up residence in England, Cowper completed his artistic education by studying in Italy.
Cowper was fiercely loyal to the Royal Academy, but also regularly exhibited his artworks at the The Royal Society of Painters in Water Colour. This watercolour was exhibited at The Royal Society in 1917 and although it was Cowper's only contribution to the summer exhibition, it was one of the most noteworthy works on display, with 'The Connoisseur' reviewing the watercolour: 'One of the principle centres was deservedly given to Mr. F. Cadogan Cowper's Fiorella. In this the artist had given rein to his delight in rich colour, setting against a background of deep lustrous blue a high-born girl in the sumptuous costume of the Italian Renaissance. Crimson, gold and white served to make up the components of the colour-scheme, rendered interesting by the beauty of the subject and the completeness and certainty of the handling.' (Current Art News: The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colour, 'The Connoisseur', July 1917, p. 179).
Cowper was one of a small group of artists who turned their backs on modernism and attempted to maintain the Pre-Raphaelite tradition far into the 20th century, still exhibiting pictures of this kind as late as the 1950s - the influence can be felt strongly here in the portrayal of a red-haired model, the rich fabrics, and the visual trope of combing hair, all typical of the Pre-Raphaelites. His portraits in both watercolour and oil almost always relate back to a literary inspiration. The subject of the present watercolour is probably derived from the title character in 'Fiorella' a one-act comedy written by Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) in 1905.
Cowper was fiercely loyal to the Royal Academy, but also regularly exhibited his artworks at the The Royal Society of Painters in Water Colour. This watercolour was exhibited at The Royal Society in 1917 and although it was Cowper's only contribution to the summer exhibition, it was one of the most noteworthy works on display, with 'The Connoisseur' reviewing the watercolour: 'One of the principle centres was deservedly given to Mr. F. Cadogan Cowper's Fiorella. In this the artist had given rein to his delight in rich colour, setting against a background of deep lustrous blue a high-born girl in the sumptuous costume of the Italian Renaissance. Crimson, gold and white served to make up the components of the colour-scheme, rendered interesting by the beauty of the subject and the completeness and certainty of the handling.' (Current Art News: The Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colour, 'The Connoisseur', July 1917, p. 179).
Cowper was one of a small group of artists who turned their backs on modernism and attempted to maintain the Pre-Raphaelite tradition far into the 20th century, still exhibiting pictures of this kind as late as the 1950s - the influence can be felt strongly here in the portrayal of a red-haired model, the rich fabrics, and the visual trope of combing hair, all typical of the Pre-Raphaelites. His portraits in both watercolour and oil almost always relate back to a literary inspiration. The subject of the present watercolour is probably derived from the title character in 'Fiorella' a one-act comedy written by Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) in 1905.