Lot Essay
This early painting is a replica, slightly enlarged and with variations, of a subject that Linnell exhibited at the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, Spring Gardens, in 1815. The composition was the product of a month's tour in Wales in the summer of 1812, and reflects his intense response to scenery which had reminded him of 'the backgrounds of Raphael, Titian, etc...[and] all that I admired in the works of the great men of Italy and Germany. So thoroughly did some of the valleys, near Snowdon, carry me away from all former associations with modern Art, that I could almost fancy myself living in the times of Jacob and Esau - and might expect to meet their flocks - so primitive, so beautiful, so wild' (David Linnell, op.cit., p.28). Of the original version, Linnell wrote: 'I also exhibited this year at S[pring] G[ardens] one of my best subjects, which I afterwards repeated several times. It was called Fine Evening after Rain, 26" x 17", sold to Mr Tomkinson for 20gns. Exactly copied from a watercolour study made in Wales, near Dollydellan, with figures introduced - it was much praised, and has been a favorite subject since' (op.cit., p.39).
In fact Linnell was to paint more replicas of this subject than any other. David Linnell lists seven, of which ours was the first. It was commissioned on 19 December 1819 by the Mr Tomkinson who had brought the original version. Linnell's journal records that Tomkinson sent this to him on 12 January 1820, and on 20 January he began the replica, together with a smaller version. He continued to work on them for the following two days.
Tomkinson seems to have been a piano maker or dealer, and may have stipulated from the first that he would give Linnell a piano in exchange for the replica of his picture. At all events, on 1 March Linnell visited Tomkinson with his brother-in-law Jacob Barling and 'marked a pianoforte', returning to his patron 'to settle about piano-forte' next day. Barling, who was a piano-tuner by profession and a member of the Baptist Chapel in Keppel Street, Russell Square, where Linnell worshipped, had married the artist's sister, Betsy. Linnell himself had married Mary Palmer (no relation of Samuel) in September 1817, and no doubt wanted the piano to furnish the house which he and his wife had taken in Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square. It was not the first time that he had bartered for domestic purposes. The tradesmen who had painted the house and supplied it with stoves had also agreed to be paid in pictures.
Linnell worked on Tomkinsons's replica again on 6 and 7 March, and at last on 15 March he was able to record: 'Sent to Mr Tomkinsons the Duplicate of Fine Evening after Rain which he agreed to take in exchange for the pianoforte'. A week later he visited Tomkinson to retouch the picture, and a week later again (29 March) he paid his brother-in-law #1-6-6 'for chosing pianoforte'. The instrument was valued at 42 guineas, nearly twice the price that Linnell had received for the original picture, so perhaps he felt that he owed Barling something for making a good bargain.
We are grateful to David Linnell for his help in preparing this entry.
In fact Linnell was to paint more replicas of this subject than any other. David Linnell lists seven, of which ours was the first. It was commissioned on 19 December 1819 by the Mr Tomkinson who had brought the original version. Linnell's journal records that Tomkinson sent this to him on 12 January 1820, and on 20 January he began the replica, together with a smaller version. He continued to work on them for the following two days.
Tomkinson seems to have been a piano maker or dealer, and may have stipulated from the first that he would give Linnell a piano in exchange for the replica of his picture. At all events, on 1 March Linnell visited Tomkinson with his brother-in-law Jacob Barling and 'marked a pianoforte', returning to his patron 'to settle about piano-forte' next day. Barling, who was a piano-tuner by profession and a member of the Baptist Chapel in Keppel Street, Russell Square, where Linnell worshipped, had married the artist's sister, Betsy. Linnell himself had married Mary Palmer (no relation of Samuel) in September 1817, and no doubt wanted the piano to furnish the house which he and his wife had taken in Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square. It was not the first time that he had bartered for domestic purposes. The tradesmen who had painted the house and supplied it with stoves had also agreed to be paid in pictures.
Linnell worked on Tomkinsons's replica again on 6 and 7 March, and at last on 15 March he was able to record: 'Sent to Mr Tomkinsons the Duplicate of Fine Evening after Rain which he agreed to take in exchange for the pianoforte'. A week later he visited Tomkinson to retouch the picture, and a week later again (29 March) he paid his brother-in-law #1-6-6 'for chosing pianoforte'. The instrument was valued at 42 guineas, nearly twice the price that Linnell had received for the original picture, so perhaps he felt that he owed Barling something for making a good bargain.
We are grateful to David Linnell for his help in preparing this entry.