Attributed to Stanhope Alexander Forbes RA (1857-1947)

Attributed to Stanhope Alexander Forbes RA (1857-1947)

The Philatelist

Oil on canvas

34.2 x 26.9cm

Provenance:

Purchased by Rupert Leopold Norris, c.1920;

By descent to Leonard Rupert Norris;

And by descent

Rupert Norris, together with his son Leonard, met Stanhope Forbes at the Royal Academy around 1920, and acquired the present work in that period. However, this painting is not recorded as having been exhibited at the Royal Academy, and stylistically it is consistent with Forbes' work of the 1890s. Indeed, Forbes' sales book records an untraced painting entitled 'The Philatelist' in 1897. Leonard Norris married Monica Salisbury, the daughter of the painter Frank O. Salisbury, and both Salisbury and Forbes contributed to the mural cycle at the Royal Exchange, although it is not known if they met.