- 84
Stanhope Alexander Forbes, R.A.
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Stanhope Alexander Forbes, R.A.
- The Huckster
- signed Stanhope A. Forbes and dated 1917. (lower left)
- oil on canvas
- 24 by 30 in.
- 61 by 76 cm
Provenance
Private Collection (acquired circa 1920)
Thence by descent
Sale: Phillips, London, December 4, 2001, lot 36, illustrated
Richard Green, London
Acquired from the above
Thence by descent
Sale: Phillips, London, December 4, 2001, lot 36, illustrated
Richard Green, London
Acquired from the above
Condition
This work is in original unlined condition. The surface presents well, the colors appear vibrant and the impasto fresh. There is faintly visible craquelure in the sky at upper right and minor associated lifting. Under UV: there are finely applied retouches to the bridge of the boy's nose and in the sky at upper right.
For a more accurate representation of color, please refer to the image for this lot in our online catalogue.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
His passionate love for the way of life, the people with their joys and sorrows, the events and tasks of their everyday lives, is expressed in all his best paintings… Forbes saw the way of life in Newlyn as something of lasting value in an increasingly troubled world.’
Mrs. Lionel Birch, Stanhope A. Forbes, A.R.A., and Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, A.R.W.S., 1916, p. 92
Painted in 1917, The Huckster is a glimpse of reality, a brief moment in time of innocence and calm captured on canvas. This way of life was under attack from the threat overseas but as Europe was torn apart, the sun continued to shine over Cornwall. It is poignant in that the boy depicted would only have been just a few years too young to have been sent to the Front to fight. He drives the cart because no older boys are available to do so and the women are working in the fields to grow food as part of the Land Army campaign. The character of the young huckster (a vendor who sells items door-to-door) is captured by his expression, half-hidden by the shade cast by his cap; this is not a sentimentalized depiction of rural life as might have been depicted in the previous century. His half-smile suggests that he has stopped momentarily to converse with the artist and at any moment he will crack his whip and drive his cart onward to the next customer. Riding from door to door, he offers his meagre crop of rhubarb as part of his own contribution to the war effort to provide food for his country.
The model for The Huckster appears to have been a favorite for Stanhope Alexander Forbes, appearing in The White Horse (1917, sold Sotheby’s London, July 4, 2001, lot 20) and On Paul Hill, Trewarveneth Street (fig. 1, 1922, Penlee House) in which he is leading the horse and cart rather than riding upon it. Forbes began a series of paintings of small groups of people seen from close quarters in the early 1900s, Home Along (1905, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery) being one of the earliest joined by At the Moorings of 1907 (Ferens Art Gallery, Hull), The Old Pier Steps (1911, Bradford Art Galleries and Museum) and Fitting Out, Mousehole Harbour (1919, Bradford Art Galleries and Museum). In these paintings there is a greater sense of intimacy and naturalism, where Forbes is more concerned with the character of his subject than with anecdote and narrative.
It is clear that by the later stage in the artist’s life, he knew his subject so well and respected the Cornish people to such an extent that he understood their lives and how to depict them with intelligence, warmth and honesty. He and his wife, Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, had founded the Newlyn Art School, making Cornwall a place of artistic pilgrimage for the next generation of modern artists. Forbes painted among the people, choosing subjects which were immediately engaging and understandable. Visitors to Cornwall could often find the great painter standing in the cobbled streets with his easel and canvas set up in front of him, working on the oil sketches for his next paintings which would find their way into public and private collections, as he was well known from his London exhibitions.
Mrs. Lionel Birch, Stanhope A. Forbes, A.R.A., and Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, A.R.W.S., 1916, p. 92
Painted in 1917, The Huckster is a glimpse of reality, a brief moment in time of innocence and calm captured on canvas. This way of life was under attack from the threat overseas but as Europe was torn apart, the sun continued to shine over Cornwall. It is poignant in that the boy depicted would only have been just a few years too young to have been sent to the Front to fight. He drives the cart because no older boys are available to do so and the women are working in the fields to grow food as part of the Land Army campaign. The character of the young huckster (a vendor who sells items door-to-door) is captured by his expression, half-hidden by the shade cast by his cap; this is not a sentimentalized depiction of rural life as might have been depicted in the previous century. His half-smile suggests that he has stopped momentarily to converse with the artist and at any moment he will crack his whip and drive his cart onward to the next customer. Riding from door to door, he offers his meagre crop of rhubarb as part of his own contribution to the war effort to provide food for his country.
The model for The Huckster appears to have been a favorite for Stanhope Alexander Forbes, appearing in The White Horse (1917, sold Sotheby’s London, July 4, 2001, lot 20) and On Paul Hill, Trewarveneth Street (fig. 1, 1922, Penlee House) in which he is leading the horse and cart rather than riding upon it. Forbes began a series of paintings of small groups of people seen from close quarters in the early 1900s, Home Along (1905, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery) being one of the earliest joined by At the Moorings of 1907 (Ferens Art Gallery, Hull), The Old Pier Steps (1911, Bradford Art Galleries and Museum) and Fitting Out, Mousehole Harbour (1919, Bradford Art Galleries and Museum). In these paintings there is a greater sense of intimacy and naturalism, where Forbes is more concerned with the character of his subject than with anecdote and narrative.
It is clear that by the later stage in the artist’s life, he knew his subject so well and respected the Cornish people to such an extent that he understood their lives and how to depict them with intelligence, warmth and honesty. He and his wife, Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes, had founded the Newlyn Art School, making Cornwall a place of artistic pilgrimage for the next generation of modern artists. Forbes painted among the people, choosing subjects which were immediately engaging and understandable. Visitors to Cornwall could often find the great painter standing in the cobbled streets with his easel and canvas set up in front of him, working on the oil sketches for his next paintings which would find their way into public and private collections, as he was well known from his London exhibitions.