Sketch for 'An Apotheosis of Bristol'

Details

Ernest Board (1877-1934)
Sketch for 'An Apotheosis of Bristol'
signed and dated 'ERNEST BOARD./1915' (lower right) and further signed and inscribed 'No 1/"Sketch for an Apotheosis/of Bristol"/Ernest Board./Well known characters shown/in sketch:-/Cabot, Colston, Canynges,/Chatterton, Southey, Lawrence,/Muller, Macready, Mrs/Robinson, Mary Carpenter/Hannah More, Hugh Conway,/John Addington Symonds/etc' (on an old label attached to the reverse)
oil on canvas, in an arch-topped slip
30 x 20 in. (76.2 x 50.8 cm.)

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Lot Essay

Ernest Board was a portrait and figure painter as well as a stained glass artist and mural painter. This sketch for the "apotheosis" or civic glorification of Bristol depicts a selection of people who made Bristol famous, highlighted in the key above, within an allegorical and imaginary setting. Of particular note is John Cabot, the 15th Century Italian explorer who sailed from Bristol to American in 1497.

Some of these figures also appear in the large painting by Ernest Board 'Some Who Made Bristol Famous' (presented in 1930) which hangs in the entrance hall of the Bristol City Art Gallery.

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