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Lot Essay
Robert Huskisson was a short-lived painter who is now best-known for his fairy subjects, a genre which enjoyed a great vogue in the early Victorian period. Like other works by Huskisson, it is based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, by far the most important literary source for fairy paintings both before and during the Victorian period. While stylistically it can be related to the work of William Etty, William Frost, Noel Paton and Richard Dadd, all of whom made significant contributions to the fairy painting tradition.
Huskisson exhibited a picture of this title at the Royal Academy in 1854, the last time his work appeared on the institution's walls. It was described as follows in the Art Journal:
'This is the fulfillment of Titania's promise to her beloved Bottom, although he declared his preference for a handful of dried peas to the sweet nuts-
'I have a venturous fairy that shall seek
The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.'
We see here, accordingly, the fairy's coachmaker very much astounded at the dispersion of his hoard, which take wings to themselves and fly away. The idea is carried out with all the poetic taste with which this artist qualifies his works. The spirit of the picture coincides with that of the verse; and the description of the riotous mirth of the elves at the success of their plundering expedition is most ingenious.'
The present picture's high degree of finish suggests that it is probably the 1854 exhibit, although there are at least three other versions of what was evidently a very popular composition. One (oil on canvas, 14¾ x 18 in.), which was for a time wrongly attributed to Sir Joseph Noel Paton and appeared as such in Jeremy Maas’ book Victorian Painters, 1969, p. 153, is also in the Zuckerman collection. The second (oil on board, 13½ x 16¼ in.) appeared at Christie's, London on 19 May 1978, lot 232, and again at Sotheby's, New York on 29 February 1984, lot 234. The third (oil on canvas, 25¾ x 30½ in.) was sold by Sotheby's in London on 9 June 1993, lot 191. It came from the collection of the late Humphrey Brooke, who became Secretary to the Royal Academy in 1952 and held the post for many years. However, these latter two are much looser in handling and are likely compositional sketches for the present work.
Huskisson exhibited a picture of this title at the Royal Academy in 1854, the last time his work appeared on the institution's walls. It was described as follows in the Art Journal:
'This is the fulfillment of Titania's promise to her beloved Bottom, although he declared his preference for a handful of dried peas to the sweet nuts-
'I have a venturous fairy that shall seek
The squirrel's hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.'
We see here, accordingly, the fairy's coachmaker very much astounded at the dispersion of his hoard, which take wings to themselves and fly away. The idea is carried out with all the poetic taste with which this artist qualifies his works. The spirit of the picture coincides with that of the verse; and the description of the riotous mirth of the elves at the success of their plundering expedition is most ingenious.'
The present picture's high degree of finish suggests that it is probably the 1854 exhibit, although there are at least three other versions of what was evidently a very popular composition. One (oil on canvas, 14¾ x 18 in.), which was for a time wrongly attributed to Sir Joseph Noel Paton and appeared as such in Jeremy Maas’ book Victorian Painters, 1969, p. 153, is also in the Zuckerman collection. The second (oil on board, 13½ x 16¼ in.) appeared at Christie's, London on 19 May 1978, lot 232, and again at Sotheby's, New York on 29 February 1984, lot 234. The third (oil on canvas, 25¾ x 30½ in.) was sold by Sotheby's in London on 9 June 1993, lot 191. It came from the collection of the late Humphrey Brooke, who became Secretary to the Royal Academy in 1952 and held the post for many years. However, these latter two are much looser in handling and are likely compositional sketches for the present work.