Big Ben

This atmospheric watercolour of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster is a fine example of Barton's feelings towards London. In her book, Familiar London, London, 1904, she wrote that the city 'has ever been to me a most enthralling place. Not only on account of its intense attractions from an artistic point of view, but also from what it has always taught me to feel so strongly - how little and feeble each one of us is'. She describes a day in December when she wandered around Westminster 'it had been raining heavily all day, and the sky which had just cleared, flooded with a golden light ... A string of hansom cabs coming along, reflected in the wet streets ... I gazed at it entranced, and then walked home feeling as if I had had a glimpse of fairyland. I was met with the remark. 'Did you ever see a more odious day? I am splashed with mud from head to foot!'' (Barton, op.cit, p. 4).

Barton, born in Ireland, accompanied Mildred Anne Butler (1858-1941) to London to study under Paul Naftel (1817-1891). She was particularly noted for her atmospheric effects and became well known in Dublin and London. She was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colour in 1893, the year she painted lots 68 and 70; and a full member in 1911.

Lord Iveagh owned sixteen of the original watercolour for Barton's book, Familiar London.

A similar watercolour by the artist of Emanuel Hospital, Westminster was sold at Christie's London, 11 June 1993, lot 33 (£8,970).