Stanhope Alexander Forbes, R.A. (1857-1947)

The present drawing is a preparatory study for the oil painting at Tate Britain, London which was presented as part of the Chantry Bequest in 1894 by Henry Tate. In this picture, Forbes, one of the Newlyn Group of artists, depicts a Cornish sailor and his bride at their wedding feast, using local models for the figures and basing the interior on a room at a local inn. The sale of the painting to Henry Tate provided Forbes with enough money to marry fellow Newlyn artist, Elizabeth Armstrong in 1889. This perhaps explains his following reflection: 'Pleasant times to look back on though the picture was not carried through without infinite painstaking labour...I could only remember the good luck it brought me, the happy fortune I owe to its success' (S.A. Forbes, 'A Newlyn Retrospective', The Cornish Magazine, 1898, vol. 1).