Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (Irish, 1856-1941) A Milkmaid
Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (Irish, 1856-1941)
A Milkmaid
signed and dated 'J Lavery 89' (lower left)
oil on canvas
81 x 53cm (31 7/8 x 20 7/8in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
The sitter, thence by descent.
On Friday 29 November 1889, Glasgow Art Club staged a Grand Costume Ball at St Andrew's Hall in aid of the Scottish Artists' Benevolent Association. The ball was an enormous success, attended by 967 of the most prominent citizens in the west of Scotland. It was a momentous occasion and, as A. S. Boyd later recalled, 'nothing so good of the kind had been seen in Glasgow' before that night.[1]
The evening began with a grand tableau vivant based on Paul Delaroche's frieze in the dome of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, known as the Hemicycle of the Arts. This involved the Glasgow Boys dressing up as great painters of the past. Lavery appeared in a satin doublet and knickerbockers as Rembrandt, James Guthrie took a prominent role as the great classical painter Apelles, Edward Arthur Walton dressed in a kimono as Hokusai, James Paterson appeared as Botticelli, and others represented Holbein and Bellini. A 'Modern Artist's Studio', painted in blue and gold, was established in a room adjacent to the Octagon Hall. During the evening, Lavery, MacGregor Wilson, A. S. Boyd, Paterson, Kennedy and Hamilton were at work making sketches in accordance with a notice displayed at the door: 'A fresh old master at work every half hour'. Lavery was kept busy throughout the evening, well practised in swift studies, he painted guests in their costumes.[2]
Lavery's best-known work of the evening, Hokusai and the Butterfly (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), celebrated the engagement of Walton and Helen Law. Glasgow Art Club produced a large 'souvenir' volume illustrating several sketches by the resident artists. It named works by Lavery which may have been painted afterwards from photographs and sittings, including A Milkmaid. Until recently, the present work was untraced.
The sitter for this painting was Alice Lilian Louisa Cumming, known as Lily. Lily was born in 1870, the daughter of Dr James Simpson Cumming, a general practitioner. James had been admitted to Glasgow Art Club in 1886 as one of its original lay members.
The morning after the ball, the Glasgow Herald published an article reviewing the event, calling it a 'brilliant success' and 'the most important local social function of the season'. It also listed all the attendees and their fancy dress costumes. Among the hundreds of names listed were 'Dr Cumming, 24 Blythswood Square as Gentleman, 1789. Mrs Cumming, as Lady, 1789. Miss Cumming, as Country Girl, 1789.'[3]
The year 1889 was pivotal for Lavery, one in which he honed his ability to capture likenesses quickly and cemented his position as a rising star of the art world. In late 1888, he had been contracted by Glasgow City Council to produce a large memorial canvas portraying the State Visit of Queen Victoria to its International Exhibition (Glasgow Museums). The task, which necessitated depicting a gathering of 253 guests, with visits across Scotland and to London, Windsor and Darmstadt to paint members of the royal household, was daunting. It consumed the next two years of the artist's life, requiring a move to a larger studio at West George Street, with most of the preliminary portrait sketches being painted in 1889.[4] Lavery also won a bronze medal at the Paris International Exhibition. It may seem surprising that, during the busiest year of his life, Lavery should have taken on other commissions, but such was his reputation as a Salon medallist that he was in great demand. The cachet of association with such an important young artist was clearly desirable. The present work is an excellent showcase of Lavery's signature strengths: sophisticated tonal harmony and the ability to combine fluid, dashing brushwork with structured realism and impressionistic texture.
Although Lily is depicted in the costume of a milkmaid from 1789, she was, in 1889, a thoroughly modern woman. Her pose hints at self-assurance and pride, with her hand resting confidently on her hip. When this portrait was painted, Lily was a student. Just a few years later, she and three classmates became the first women in Scotland to graduate as Bachelors of Medicine, and the first women to graduate with degrees from Glasgow University. Lily also achieved a Certificate of Midwifery and it is thought that she initially worked with her father before gaining a Doctor of Public Health certificate from the University of Cambridge in 1899. Lily remained connected with the medical profession after having children, including occasional work as an anaesthetist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, advising women on reproductive health and family planning with a view to their being able to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and, before and during the First World War, involvement in Red Cross nursing examinations and charity organisation work. When Lily died in 1945, the painting remained in her family by descent and had been on loan to the Hunterian since 2018. This auction marks the first time the work has been seen in public.
[1] A.S. Boyd, Glasgow men and women, their children and some strangers within their gates, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1905, p.96-97.
[2] K. McConkey, Sir John Lavery, Edinburgh, 1993, p.48-49.
[3] The Glasgow Herald, Saturday 30 November 1889, p.9.
[4] K. McConkey, John Lavery, A Painter and his World, 2010, Edinburgh, p.40-48.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
Presents very well.Inspection under UV light shows one tiny spot of re-touching on the lower edge, below the date. It also revealed one fleck on re-touching on the right edge. See additional images.Overall frame dimensions: 111 x 84 x 13 cm. Not glazed.
Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (Irish, 1856-1941)
A Milkmaid
signed and dated 'J Lavery 89' (lower left)
oil on canvas
81 x 53cm (31 7/8 x 20 7/8in).
Footnotes:
Provenance
The sitter, thence by descent.
On Friday 29 November 1889, Glasgow Art Club staged a Grand Costume Ball at St Andrew's Hall in aid of the Scottish Artists' Benevolent Association. The ball was an enormous success, attended by 967 of the most prominent citizens in the west of Scotland. It was a momentous occasion and, as A. S. Boyd later recalled, 'nothing so good of the kind had been seen in Glasgow' before that night.[1]
The evening began with a grand tableau vivant based on Paul Delaroche's frieze in the dome of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, known as the Hemicycle of the Arts. This involved the Glasgow Boys dressing up as great painters of the past. Lavery appeared in a satin doublet and knickerbockers as Rembrandt, James Guthrie took a prominent role as the great classical painter Apelles, Edward Arthur Walton dressed in a kimono as Hokusai, James Paterson appeared as Botticelli, and others represented Holbein and Bellini. A 'Modern Artist's Studio', painted in blue and gold, was established in a room adjacent to the Octagon Hall. During the evening, Lavery, MacGregor Wilson, A. S. Boyd, Paterson, Kennedy and Hamilton were at work making sketches in accordance with a notice displayed at the door: 'A fresh old master at work every half hour'. Lavery was kept busy throughout the evening, well practised in swift studies, he painted guests in their costumes.[2]
Lavery's best-known work of the evening, Hokusai and the Butterfly (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh), celebrated the engagement of Walton and Helen Law. Glasgow Art Club produced a large 'souvenir' volume illustrating several sketches by the resident artists. It named works by Lavery which may have been painted afterwards from photographs and sittings, including A Milkmaid. Until recently, the present work was untraced.
The sitter for this painting was Alice Lilian Louisa Cumming, known as Lily. Lily was born in 1870, the daughter of Dr James Simpson Cumming, a general practitioner. James had been admitted to Glasgow Art Club in 1886 as one of its original lay members.
The morning after the ball, the Glasgow Herald published an article reviewing the event, calling it a 'brilliant success' and 'the most important local social function of the season'. It also listed all the attendees and their fancy dress costumes. Among the hundreds of names listed were 'Dr Cumming, 24 Blythswood Square as Gentleman, 1789. Mrs Cumming, as Lady, 1789. Miss Cumming, as Country Girl, 1789.'[3]
The year 1889 was pivotal for Lavery, one in which he honed his ability to capture likenesses quickly and cemented his position as a rising star of the art world. In late 1888, he had been contracted by Glasgow City Council to produce a large memorial canvas portraying the State Visit of Queen Victoria to its International Exhibition (Glasgow Museums). The task, which necessitated depicting a gathering of 253 guests, with visits across Scotland and to London, Windsor and Darmstadt to paint members of the royal household, was daunting. It consumed the next two years of the artist's life, requiring a move to a larger studio at West George Street, with most of the preliminary portrait sketches being painted in 1889.[4] Lavery also won a bronze medal at the Paris International Exhibition. It may seem surprising that, during the busiest year of his life, Lavery should have taken on other commissions, but such was his reputation as a Salon medallist that he was in great demand. The cachet of association with such an important young artist was clearly desirable. The present work is an excellent showcase of Lavery's signature strengths: sophisticated tonal harmony and the ability to combine fluid, dashing brushwork with structured realism and impressionistic texture.
Although Lily is depicted in the costume of a milkmaid from 1789, she was, in 1889, a thoroughly modern woman. Her pose hints at self-assurance and pride, with her hand resting confidently on her hip. When this portrait was painted, Lily was a student. Just a few years later, she and three classmates became the first women in Scotland to graduate as Bachelors of Medicine, and the first women to graduate with degrees from Glasgow University. Lily also achieved a Certificate of Midwifery and it is thought that she initially worked with her father before gaining a Doctor of Public Health certificate from the University of Cambridge in 1899. Lily remained connected with the medical profession after having children, including occasional work as an anaesthetist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, advising women on reproductive health and family planning with a view to their being able to avoid unwanted pregnancies, and, before and during the First World War, involvement in Red Cross nursing examinations and charity organisation work. When Lily died in 1945, the painting remained in her family by descent and had been on loan to the Hunterian since 2018. This auction marks the first time the work has been seen in public.
[1] A.S. Boyd, Glasgow men and women, their children and some strangers within their gates, Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1905, p.96-97.
[2] K. McConkey, Sir John Lavery, Edinburgh, 1993, p.48-49.
[3] The Glasgow Herald, Saturday 30 November 1889, p.9.
[4] K. McConkey, John Lavery, A Painter and his World, 2010, Edinburgh, p.40-48.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
Presents very well.Inspection under UV light shows one tiny spot of re-touching on the lower edge, below the date. It also revealed one fleck on re-touching on the right edge. See additional images.Overall frame dimensions: 111 x 84 x 13 cm. Not glazed.
