A Tempting Present

Details

John Anster Fitzgerald (1832-1906)
A Tempting Present
oil on canvas
16 x 12 in. (40.6 x 30.5 cm.)

Provenance

Anon. sale, Sotheby's, London, 2 November 1994, lot 134, when acquired by the present owner.

Exhibited

London, Royal Academy, 1851, no. 699.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

Fitzgerald is best known for his fairy subjects, but in this early work and another entitled Christmas, 1858 (fig. 1) he shows himself a thorough follower of the Pre-Raphaelite movement which had been formed in 1848 and gained many adherents. Both pictures show technical similarity to the early works by members of the Brotherhood and also a certain wilful quirkiness. The effect has been likened to the work of the Liverpool Pre-Raphaelite John Lee.

Fitzgerald began to exhibit at the Royal Academy in 1845, and showed fairly regularly until 1881, and then after a long interval in 1902, four years before his death.

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