Lot 3

JOHN MELHUISH STRUDWICK (BRITISH, 1849-1937)

2 More

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK … Read more

PRE-RAPHAELITES TO SYMBOLISTS: IMPORTANT DRAWINGS & PAINTINGS FROM THE COLLECTION OF HARTMUTH JUNG

JOHN MELHUISH STRUDWICK (BRITISH, 1849-1937)

When sorrow comes in summer days

Details

JOHN MELHUISH STRUDWICK (BRITISH, 1849-1937)
When sorrow comes in summer days
inscribed 'Bedford Park/London. W.' (on a partial label attached to the reverse)
oil on canvas
35 1/8 x 21 ½ in. (89.3 x 54.6 cm.)

Provenance

The artist’s family, and by descent until sold,
Anonymous sale; Sotheby’s, London, 22 November 1983, lot 52.
Seymour Stein, New York.
The Collecting Eye of Seymour Stein; Sotheby's, New York, 11 December 2003, lot 36.

Exhibited

London, New Gallery, 1908, no. 64.

Special notice

This lot has been imported from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Sarah Reynolds Specialist, Head of Sale

sareynolds@christies.com +44 (0)20 7752 3284

Lot Essay

With its mood of wistful sadness, this picture is typical of Strudwick's depictions of female beauty that proved so popular amongst
collectors of Pre-Raphaelite art. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1876, but only showed one picture. Thereafter he transferred his allegiance to the Grosvenor Gallery when it opened the following year, and then to the New Gallery when it opened 11 years after that. It was there that despite its partially finished state this picture was shown in 1908. An early picture, A Golden Thread, from 1885 was bought by the Chantrey Bequest and is now in the Tate, London.
Strudwick was studio assistant both to Spencer Stanhope and to Burne-Jones and it was through them that, despite never visiting Italy, Italianate influence was absorbed. This picture has a very delicate sense of colour – something Stanhope especially was renowned for. The full verse with which the picture was exhibited reads, 'When sorrow comes in summer days, roses bloom in vain.'

More from British and European Art

View All