Attributed to John Glover

The canvas has an old lining, evidence of which is visible to the extreme edges, particulary upper left. There is a tiny fleck towards the centre of the lower section (visible on close inspection) and some further minor spots to areas towards and along the extreme edges. There is some eveidence of an old repaired tear in the lower right quadrant, to the right of the female figure, with resulting craquelure. There is some craquelure to the paint surface and some very minor paint separation in places, particularly lower left. There is surface dirt and a discoloured varnish to the work which could benefit from a very light clean. Otherwise in good condition. Ultraviolet light reveals some very light retouching and infilling to craquelure in the sky in places. Further suggestions of retouching to the lower half in places beneath a thick and uneven varnish which prevents further inspection. Held in a simple gold painted wooden frame in fair condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Arriving in Van Diemen's Land in 1831, John Glover was the first professional landscape artist to settle in the Australian colonies, and is generally acknowledged as the finest landscape painter of the first half-century of British occupation. He has, however, been sadly neglected in his native country. There are several factors in the decline of Glover's reputation in Britain beyond the simple fact of his physical disappearance to the other side of the world. His achievements, like those of many of his Regency contemporaries – artists such as T.C. Hofland and William Linton - were eclipsed by the extraordinary genius of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. (Glover was, moreover, consistently disparaged in the latter's writings.) More generally, after Glover's death the Italianate-classical Picturesque mode in which he worked, and which had dominated English landscape aesthetics for more than a century, was rapidly succeeded by the more naturalistic and sentimental taste of the Victorian period.

Glover can nevertheless reasonably be described as one of the most significant artists of his generation. Beginning his career as a provincial drawing master, he rode the 1800s vogue for watercolour to a position of professional respect and authority (Constable's peevish sniping notwithstanding) and commercial success. He was a member of the Society of Painters in Water Colours, a member and President of its successor organisation, the Society of Painters in Oil and Water Colours, and a foundation member and President of the Society of British Artists. He was a regular, even prolific exhibitor at these venues as well as the Royal Academy and the British Institution. Glover is also notable as one of the first English artists to mount a solo exhibition in the metropolis, showing collections of his own work annually from 1820 to 1824. The present work is exemplary of the Picturesque landscapes that brought him his wide popular success. As the critic William Carey observed: "His sphere is locality; but his choice is classic; his eye acute, his mind replete with science and glowing with genial images... There is a grace and sweetness in whatever he does. Although his handling is apparently minute, his attention is always fixed on the general effect, and what he accomplishes, is accomplished with facility."(William Carey, Letter to I*** A*****, Esq. A Connoisseur in London, Manchester: R.W. Dean (privately printed), 1809, pp. 14-15)

Here Glover combines Claudean conventions with the tradition of the town prospect, as he also did in views of London, Windsor, Chester and Rome. From an elevated viewpoint to the north-east of Oban, he describes not only the town and its fishing harbour, but a wide expanse of Loch Linnhe. The island of Kerrera forms the far shore, with the mountains of Mull and the Scottish Highlands rising further behind. There is a good deal of shipping visible on the water, a reflection of Oban's importance as 'Gateway to the Western Isles', especially after the construction of the Crinan and Caledonian Canals at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Yet despite this topographical accuracy and the local details of the foreground staffage, the painting retains a distinctly Claudean flavour, evident in its coulisse of saplings at the right and detailed bottom-edge burdock or acanthus foliage, in its sunlit middle ground and bright, cloud-strewn sky.

Although not as popular as Wales or the Lake District, Scotland was nevertheless a favourite destination for amateurs of the Picturesque in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Glover first visited in 1803; his submissions to the R.A. in 1804 included Cruachen Ben from Dalmally and Trossacks at Loch Catherine, and at the inaugural exhibition of the S.P.W.C. the following year, six of his twenty-three pictures were of Scottish subjects. It was clearly profitable territory; a sketchbook note from a later visit records that in a two-month tour he 'made 158 sketches & 6 Pictures in Oil.' (Sketchbook no. 48, 1825, private collection, U.K. ) Although the precise origin and provenance of this work are obscure, it is likely to have been developed from sketches made during the artist's 1803 northern tour. A watercolour entitled Near Oban, Scotland was exhibited at the S.P.W.C. in 1806 (cat. no. 300). Glover often tackled the same subject in both watercolour and oil, and the style of the present work is certainly consistent with such a date.

We are grateful to Dr. David Hansen for his assistance in cataloguing this work. Formerly Senior Curator of Art at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, and curator of the exhibition John Glover and the Colonial Picturesque (2003), Dr. Hansen is the leading authority on the work of the artist. He is currently Senior Researcher and Paintings Specialist at Sotheby's Australia.