Lot Essay
'The Laverys went to the fashionable resort of Wengen in Switzerland for a winter holiday in 1912-13 with a party of friends, which included Sir Alfred Mond and Lady Mond. Despite the cold conditions Lavery was extremely active, producing mountain landscapes of the 'Monk' and the Jungfrau, which compare with Sargent's, Llewellyn's and Sauter's alpine scenes of the period. Like the others he may have recalled the slightly earlier, panoramic mountain ranges painted in central Europe by William Stott of Oldham and Adrian Stokes. In addition to pictures of this type he painted more formal canvases of his immediate companions, skiing, sleighing and skating. Two celebrated works of this type, 'Japanese Switzerland' and 'A Winter Afternoon' depict his wife, Hazel and his step-daughter, Alice.
Two canvases of skaters on the frozen lake, similar in format, are known. The smaller version (25 x 30 in., private collection) was lent to Lavery's retrospective exhibition at the Grosvenor Galleries, London, in 1914 by Patrick J. Ford (see lot 58). It has not been possible to identify if this or the present version was that shown at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1913 (as 'Skating', no.148, under the normal circumstances Lavery would exhibit the larger, i.e. the present work).
This canvas is more complex than that acquired by Ford. It contains more figure groups which, despite the seeming casualness of their placing, create a carefully, if spontaneously balanced composition. The speedy notation exemplifies Lavery's ability, in a few strokes, to convey the whole movement of figures, recalling Bastien-Lepage's advice to him as a student thirty years earlier, 'Select a person - watch him - then put down as much as you can remember. Never look twice. At first you will remember very little, but continue and you will soon get complete action'. Set against the pale grey surface of the ice the visual drama of these fluttering shapes recall the work of the Japanese calligraphers. Given that Hazel Lavery is clearly identified in 'A Winter Afternoon' wearing a scarlet jacket and long white skirt, it is not illogical to assume that the figures in the immediate foreground and possibly those on the left of the canvas, may be modelled upon those of the artist and his wife. Contemporary snapshots confirm that Hazel and John Lavery and Alice all took to the ice'.
(Professor Kenneth McConkey, private correspondence, 1998).
Two canvases of skaters on the frozen lake, similar in format, are known. The smaller version (25 x 30 in., private collection) was lent to Lavery's retrospective exhibition at the Grosvenor Galleries, London, in 1914 by Patrick J. Ford (see lot 58). It has not been possible to identify if this or the present version was that shown at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1913 (as 'Skating', no.148, under the normal circumstances Lavery would exhibit the larger, i.e. the present work).
This canvas is more complex than that acquired by Ford. It contains more figure groups which, despite the seeming casualness of their placing, create a carefully, if spontaneously balanced composition. The speedy notation exemplifies Lavery's ability, in a few strokes, to convey the whole movement of figures, recalling Bastien-Lepage's advice to him as a student thirty years earlier, 'Select a person - watch him - then put down as much as you can remember. Never look twice. At first you will remember very little, but continue and you will soon get complete action'. Set against the pale grey surface of the ice the visual drama of these fluttering shapes recall the work of the Japanese calligraphers. Given that Hazel Lavery is clearly identified in 'A Winter Afternoon' wearing a scarlet jacket and long white skirt, it is not illogical to assume that the figures in the immediate foreground and possibly those on the left of the canvas, may be modelled upon those of the artist and his wife. Contemporary snapshots confirm that Hazel and John Lavery and Alice all took to the ice'.
(Professor Kenneth McConkey, private correspondence, 1998).