Henry Lamb, R.A.

Judge Evans, by 1918
J.L. Behrend, Grey House, Burghclere, Newbury and thence by descent to Phyllis Mary Behrend
Christie's, 13 December 1973, lot.176
Ernest, Brown & Phillips, London, where acquired by Sir David Scott in March 1975 for £2,500

London, The Goupil Gallery, The Judge Evans Collection, May-July 1918, cat. no.78;
London, National Gallery, British Painting Since Whistler, 1940, cat. no.199;
London, The Leicester Galleries, 1962, cat. no.46

Sotheby's, Pictures from the Collection of Sir David and Lady Scott, 2008, pp.172-173.

The following condition report has been provided by Hamish Dewar, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. STRUCTURAL CONDITION The canvas is unlined and attached to what would appear to be its original wooden keyed stretcher. There is much dirt and dust between the stretcher and the frame and on the reverse of the canvas which should be removed. PAINT SURFACE The paint layers have discoloured substantially and cleaning would be highly beneficial. There Is a slight abrasion to the paint surface in the upper right corner and accretions and surface dirt are visible throughout the whole painting. There are some fine lines of craquelure but these are all stable. SUMMARY The painting therefore is in good condition and cleaning, restoration and revarnishing would be highly recommended. Hamish Dewar Ltd, 13 & 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6BU Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 4004 Fax: +44 (0)20 7930 4100 Email: hamish@hamishdewar.co.uk
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

'This enchanting little minx never fails to please me. Somehow she gains in attraction by her contrast to the figures right down below.'
Sir David Scott

This picture was probably painted around Doëlan, on the southern coast of Brittany, when Lamb was staying there in the summer of 1911. Lamb was one of many painters who came to the area near Pont-Aven, having fallen under the strong influence of Gauguin.

A Breton Shepherdess was formerly in the collection of Louis and Mary Behrend, the most generous of Lamb's early patrons. A similar work by Lamb, Head of an Irish Girl of 1912 was donated to the Tate Gallery in 1917 by the Behrend family. Having met Lamb in 1911, Behrend commissioned a number of portraits of himself, his wife and family, the most well known of which was The Behrend Family of 1927 (Brighton and Hove Museums). That work remains one of Lamb's most successful family groups. The relationship bore further fruit when Lamb introduced the Behrend family to his friend, Stanley Spencer. It was as a result of this introduction that the Behrends commissioned the interior decoration of the Burghclere Memorial Chapel, built following their move to Burghclere in 1918. The chapel commemorated the life of Mary Behrend's brother, who died in Macedonia during the First World War. The finished scheme is recognised as one of Spencer's greatest artistic achievements.

This picture was also once owned by Judge William Evans, a noted collector of the artists in the orbit of the New English Art Club in the early years of the century, who was a perspicacious buyer of some of the most interesting examples of their work. Amongst the artists whose work he collected were Orpen, Steer and McEvoy, as well as the Camden Town Group, including Sickert, Ginner, Bevan, Gore and Gilman, and he was also an early supporter of Henry Lamb. Indeed Evans may have been the original owner of one of Lamb's most important paintings, the ravishing Portrait of Edie McNeill: Purple & Gold. Involved with the initial years of the Contemporary Art Society, many of the paintings from Evans' collection now feature in the permanent collections of many British institutions. Upon Evans' death in 1918, a memorial exhibition of his collection was held at the Goupil Gallery in which A Breton Shepherdess was included.