Walter Langley, R.I.

Royal Academy 1911, no.762;

Roger Langley, Walter Langley - From Birmingham to Newlyn, 1997, pp.93, 95;
Roger Langley, Walter Langley - Pioneer of the Newlyn Art Colony, 1997, pp.95, 138, 140

Original canvas. There is a faint area of craquelure to the bottom of the pink blanket and another to the cradle. Also a faint diagonal surface abrasion near the bottom of the cradle; otherwise the work appears in good overall condition. Under ultraviolet light there are retouchings across the composition. Held in a gilt plaster frame.
"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."

Unlike many of Langley's pictures of the every-day life of fisher-folk, Maternity is not a harrowing image of the hardships of life on the Cornish coast. It is a harmonic image of motherhood in which a young mother is smiling at her baby who is tucked-up snugly in a rocking cradle beside the warmth of the bread-oven on top of which the infant's sister is placing a pot of flowers. The same cottage interior was depicted in Memories of 1906 (Ferens Art Gallery, Hull) A Reverie of 1908 (Christie's, 5 June 2008, lot 16) and the watercolour Thoughts Far Away (sold in these rooms, 7 June 2005, lot 80).

A painting titled Maternity was exhibited at the Fine Art Society in 1893 and described by Alice Meynell in her introductory note to catalogue: 'This is, by the way, one of his few oil paintings, and its rich but cool tone, its full but simple execution, give you a taste for more in the same manner. It shows the infrequent pleasure that an out-of-door painter, who has exercised his eyes on opaque and diffused effects, takes in the transparent gloom and localised light of an interior.' (Collection of Water-colour Drawings Illustrating Fisher-Life by Walter Langley R.I., exhibition catalogue for Fine Art Society, 1891, no.43)