Arthur John Elsley (1861-1952)

Castles in the Air

Details
Arthur John Elsley (1861-1952)
Castles in the Air
signed and dated 'Arthur Elsley/1888' (lower left)
oil on canvas
32 x 26 in. (66 x 61.2 cm.)
Literature
H. Blackburn (ed.), Academy Notes, 1888, p. 6.
Art Journal, 1888, p. 181.
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1888, no. 51.
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery, Autumn Exhibition, 1888, no. 141 (40 gns).
Sale room notice
Please note that the medium is oil on canvas laid down on board and not as stated in the catalogue.

Lot Essay

This is an early work by Elsley, undertaken when he shared a studio at 151 Gloucester Road, Kensington, with fellow former Royal Academy student George Grenville Manton, who was a portrait painter and who had exhibited at the Royal Academy since 1880. It was Manton who introduced Elsley to Fred Morgan (1847-1924) (see lot 94). When Manton decided to leave the studio in 1889, Elsley shared Morgan's studio in the grounds of 7 North Bank, St John's Wood.

Castles in the Air features Amy Fusedale as the model. In this it can be compared to Private and Confidential (1885) in which Elsley painted one of the Fusedale sisters. Amy and Emily Fusedale were Elsley's second cousins, about ten years younger than him, and they both modelled for him for at least a decade. He married the eldest, Emily, in November 1893.

In nineteenth century parlance, one who builds Castles in the Air was a perpetual day-dreamer.

We are grateful to Terry Parker for his help in the preparing this catalogue entry.

More from VICTORIAN PICTURES

View All
View All