Lot Essay
In 1888 critics for the first time became aware of the powerful presence of the Newlyn School. While prior to this, isolated pictures had been discussed, the sense of a coherent group suddenly became obvious, following the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Stanhope Forbes' A Village Philharmonic (Birmingham City Art Gallery) and Frank Bramley's A Hopeless Dawn (Tate Gallery, London). At this point a prominent newspaper critic observed that 'we want a name for the school of artists to which Mr. Forbes...and many more belong; they have little to do with English traditions but they are unmistakably gaining a firm hold upon contemporary opinion'(The Times, May 25, 1888). Within a year, Alice Meynell published two articles in The Art Journal on the entire group of painters in Newlyn and referring to Chevallier Tayler's interiors, she praised his observation of the reflected light of grey days, 'showing all the delicated differences and subtle distances..' upon the objects, the women's garments and the tones of walls and floor in the simple cottages of the fishing village (The Art Journal, 1889, p. 102).
During the late eighties Tayler established himself as the leading exponent of this particular genre. Works like A Council of Three (New English Art Club, 1888, untraced), Confidences (1889) and The Dress Rehearsal (1888, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight) reveal him as a sympathetic observer of the wives and children of Newlyn fishermen. So successful was the last of these pictures--representing a bride-to-be trying on her wedding dress--that it was purchased from the Royal Academy by William Hesketh Lever, later Lord Leverhulme, to be used as the basis of a soap advertisement. It has been suggested that Stanhope Forbes, who described Tayler as '...the best comrade I know' (letter dated, May 31, 1885, Tate Gallery Archive), may have painted the celebrated Health of the Bride (1889, Tate Gallery, London), after seeing the Port Sunlight picture.
The present work is closely related to the Port Sunlight canvas in that it shows the same style of the table with the same unfolded print of a cavalry engagement pinned to the wall. The arrangement of the rustic windsor chair, placed to the right of the table echoes that of Frank Bramley's Domino (1886, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork), a work with a similar subject. Tayler and Bramley were the most methodical practicioners of the 'square brush' naturalism which was associated in England with the followers of Jules Bastien-Lepage. Only in later years, when he left Newlyn, did Tayler develop as a colorist rather than a tonalist painter. The House of Cards is entirely consonant with Tayler's Newlyn naturalism of the late 1880s.
We are grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.
During the late eighties Tayler established himself as the leading exponent of this particular genre. Works like A Council of Three (New English Art Club, 1888, untraced), Confidences (1889) and The Dress Rehearsal (1888, Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight) reveal him as a sympathetic observer of the wives and children of Newlyn fishermen. So successful was the last of these pictures--representing a bride-to-be trying on her wedding dress--that it was purchased from the Royal Academy by William Hesketh Lever, later Lord Leverhulme, to be used as the basis of a soap advertisement. It has been suggested that Stanhope Forbes, who described Tayler as '...the best comrade I know' (letter dated, May 31, 1885, Tate Gallery Archive), may have painted the celebrated Health of the Bride (1889, Tate Gallery, London), after seeing the Port Sunlight picture.
The present work is closely related to the Port Sunlight canvas in that it shows the same style of the table with the same unfolded print of a cavalry engagement pinned to the wall. The arrangement of the rustic windsor chair, placed to the right of the table echoes that of Frank Bramley's Domino (1886, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork), a work with a similar subject. Tayler and Bramley were the most methodical practicioners of the 'square brush' naturalism which was associated in England with the followers of Jules Bastien-Lepage. Only in later years, when he left Newlyn, did Tayler develop as a colorist rather than a tonalist painter. The House of Cards is entirely consonant with Tayler's Newlyn naturalism of the late 1880s.
We are grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for his assistance in preparing this catalogue entry.