Lot Essay
As a topographical artist, Lear was principally concerned with Mediterranean landscape; this, he felt, was his true metier, the area in which he had expertise that few other artists could match, and the English countryside was better left to other practitioners. He did, however, paint six oils of English subjects. They included a view of the mill at Arundel (1847), a theme that Constable had treated a decade earlier, and one of Windsor Castle from St. Leonard's Hill (1853), painted for the Earl of Derby.
The present example of these rare English works was commissioned by Lear's friend and patron, Lady Waldegrave. The pretty, vivacious daughter of the tenor Charles Braham, she had married both John Waldegrave and his younger brother George, the 7th Earl, and inherited the fortunes of each. Now, still only in her thirties, she was married to the dull and elderly George Granville Harcourt. Lear's friend Chichester Fortescue, who had fallen in love with her in 1850 and was to marry her as her fourth husband in 1862, introduced her to the painter, who soon became part of her circle. Although he found her rather patronising, she was kindly; and in 1857 she commissioned him to paint her two views of Palestine, which he was planning to visit. A three-month tour took place the following year. The view of Jerusalem which Lear painted for his patron was sold by Christie's on 29 July 1977, lot 174, and a version (dated 1861) of the second subject, Damascus, was offered on 10 March 1995, lot 173.
Lear was rootless after his return from the Holy Land. His friend Franklin Lushington, with whom he had often stayed, had resigned his post in the judiciary at Corfu in 1858, and the visits he paid to Rome in the winters of 1858 and 1859 were not a great success. He returned to England in May 1860, and was probably glad to receive a further commission from Lady Waldegrave to paint her two views of Nuneham, her house in Oxfordshire. He was invited to stay in the house while work was in progress, but before he set out he wrote to her:
'I am going to ask you if I may divest myself of the duty of breakfast in the morning (save Sunday), because, as I begin early, and the effect of light and shade ceases at 11½ - the interrruption of cleaning and feeding at 10 will just cut up the best part of my morning. Alas, when in a state of application, or incubation as it were, I am more or less necessarily disagreeable and absent, and should certainly answer "Elm trees and bridges", if they asked me whether I would "take tea or coffee"' (Lady Strachey, op. cit., p. 173). The letter is accompanied by a delightful and characteristic self-caricature of the artist working on what is clearly the present compostion (Fig. 1).
Even with this precaution, the visit was not a happy experience. When Lear arrived at Nuneham in late July he found the house crowded with guests, and when the party moved on to Strawberry Hill, another of Lady Waldegrave's houses, he was left behind with the housekeeper and governess, with whom he was expected to eat. Moreover, the park was sodden with rain, and the dripping trees depressed his spirits further. He made a few drawings and then returned to London, intending to work the pictures up in his studio.
There is no hint of these gloomy circumstances in our wonderfully serene painting. Lear selects a moment when the rain has cleared and the scene is bathed in fleeting sunlight. The sublimity he had so often aimed for in exotic Mediterranean subjects is here applied to an English parkland view, the towering banks of trees forming a dramatic contrast with the river landscape that stretches into the distance, while the flocks of sheep and birds emphasise the note of pastoral calm and well-being. The intense greens betray the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites, particulary Holman Hunt, with whom Lear had formed a close friendship and whose artistic principles he had consciously sought to absorb since their meeting in 1852.
A study for this picture, dated 27 July 1860, was sold at Sotheby's on 9 March 1989, lot 50, and is reproduced in Noakes, op. cit., 1991, p. 74.
We are grateful to Vivien Noakes for her help in preparing this entry.
The present example of these rare English works was commissioned by Lear's friend and patron, Lady Waldegrave. The pretty, vivacious daughter of the tenor Charles Braham, she had married both John Waldegrave and his younger brother George, the 7th Earl, and inherited the fortunes of each. Now, still only in her thirties, she was married to the dull and elderly George Granville Harcourt. Lear's friend Chichester Fortescue, who had fallen in love with her in 1850 and was to marry her as her fourth husband in 1862, introduced her to the painter, who soon became part of her circle. Although he found her rather patronising, she was kindly; and in 1857 she commissioned him to paint her two views of Palestine, which he was planning to visit. A three-month tour took place the following year. The view of Jerusalem which Lear painted for his patron was sold by Christie's on 29 July 1977, lot 174, and a version (dated 1861) of the second subject, Damascus, was offered on 10 March 1995, lot 173.
Lear was rootless after his return from the Holy Land. His friend Franklin Lushington, with whom he had often stayed, had resigned his post in the judiciary at Corfu in 1858, and the visits he paid to Rome in the winters of 1858 and 1859 were not a great success. He returned to England in May 1860, and was probably glad to receive a further commission from Lady Waldegrave to paint her two views of Nuneham, her house in Oxfordshire. He was invited to stay in the house while work was in progress, but before he set out he wrote to her:
'I am going to ask you if I may divest myself of the duty of breakfast in the morning (save Sunday), because, as I begin early, and the effect of light and shade ceases at 11½ - the interrruption of cleaning and feeding at 10 will just cut up the best part of my morning. Alas, when in a state of application, or incubation as it were, I am more or less necessarily disagreeable and absent, and should certainly answer "Elm trees and bridges", if they asked me whether I would "take tea or coffee"' (Lady Strachey, op. cit., p. 173). The letter is accompanied by a delightful and characteristic self-caricature of the artist working on what is clearly the present compostion (Fig. 1).
Even with this precaution, the visit was not a happy experience. When Lear arrived at Nuneham in late July he found the house crowded with guests, and when the party moved on to Strawberry Hill, another of Lady Waldegrave's houses, he was left behind with the housekeeper and governess, with whom he was expected to eat. Moreover, the park was sodden with rain, and the dripping trees depressed his spirits further. He made a few drawings and then returned to London, intending to work the pictures up in his studio.
There is no hint of these gloomy circumstances in our wonderfully serene painting. Lear selects a moment when the rain has cleared and the scene is bathed in fleeting sunlight. The sublimity he had so often aimed for in exotic Mediterranean subjects is here applied to an English parkland view, the towering banks of trees forming a dramatic contrast with the river landscape that stretches into the distance, while the flocks of sheep and birds emphasise the note of pastoral calm and well-being. The intense greens betray the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites, particulary Holman Hunt, with whom Lear had formed a close friendship and whose artistic principles he had consciously sought to absorb since their meeting in 1852.
A study for this picture, dated 27 July 1860, was sold at Sotheby's on 9 March 1989, lot 50, and is reproduced in Noakes, op. cit., 1991, p. 74.
We are grateful to Vivien Noakes for her help in preparing this entry.