William Barnes Wollen (1857–1936) was born in Leipzig he was educated in London before beginning a formal art education at the Slade School. In his early career he painted sporting scenes but gradually developed into a painter of battle scenes.
Victorian
The Onion Boy by Hilda Montalba (1846-1919)
Hilda Montalba was an English-born artist, one of four daughters of the Swedish-born artist Anthony Rubens Montalba. In the later part of the nineteenth century the family was based in Venice having moved there from their home in Notting Hill. The landscapes and the citizens of Venice proved a fruitful source of inspiration much as they had done for artists for centuries before this.
Elizabeth Louisa Penelope Theobald, Countess of Stamford (d.1959) and her two children, Roger Grey, later 10th Earl of Stamford (1896-1976) and Lady Jane Grey, later Lady Turnbull (1899-1991) by John Ernest Breun (1862-1921)
This elegant family portrait commemorates Mothering Sunday which falls this year on 11th March. Elizabeth Theobald was the wife of Roger Grey who, in 1890 on the death of his first cousin Harry Grey, 8th Earl of Stamford in Africa, inherited the titles of Earl of Stamford and Baron Grey of Groby and the 3,000-acre estate at Dunham Massey. They married in London in 1895 when Elizabeth was 30 and Roger fifteen years her senior. Within a year of their wedding they had a son, Roger, and in 1899 a daughter, Jane.
The Music Party by Alfred Tidey (1808 – 1892)
This charming and unassuming watercolour painting could easily be dismissed as a rather twee genre picture popular with the Victorian middle-classes. Yet it hides an intriguing tale of friendship, international travel and deposed dictators.
The Black Brunswicker by John Everett Millais (1829 – 1896)
Although this painting was completed in 1860 and relates to an event some decades earlier its familiar theme and humanity still resonate strongly today. The story relates to the engraving which hangs on the wall. It is a copy of a painting by Jacques-Louis David depicting Napoleon crossing the Alps which alludes to the fate of the young man.
Scene at Jellalabad, 1842 by Captain William Wellington Powell (1813-1879)
Captain Powell was born to affluent parents and grew up in Hammerton Hall in Lancashire, a prestigious manor house which dates back to the 1600’s. He relinquished a comfortable existence for a life of adventure and service in the British Army joining the 9th (or the East Norfolk) Regiment of Foot, an infantry line regiment which is now part of the Royal Anglican Regiment.
Girl in blue dressing a doll by James Crayer (1800 – 1899)
This charming little painting was painted by an artist about whom we know very little. Yet James Crayer was clearly an accomplished artist with an eye for good composition and the talent to capture the creases and folds of fabrics in a thoroughly convincing manner. We know Crayer was active during the nineteenth century and this painting is reminiscent of a style popular in the 1890s.
Tea in the Garden or The Tea Table by Dame Ethel Walker, RA (1861-1951)
This portrait shows Mrs. Mary Maud Foot with her three children relaxing in their garden at Church House in Pulborough, West Sussex, around 1902. Mary is seated next to her daughter Enid whilst her two older sons Leslie and Eric are placed further in the background. Not featured is their father, Dr Ernest Foot, who established a practice in the village some years earlier.
‘Boulter’s Lock, Sunday Afternoon’, 1885-97 by Edward John Gregory (1850-1909)
In Victorian times, much like now, the promise of a warm bank holiday weekend was sufficient to lure people to the rivers and to the seaside en masse. This complex work by Edward Gregory depicts such a weekend at Boulter’s Lock on the River Thames, to the west of London near Maidenhead.
Tagg’s Island by Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959)
You may have heard about the recent British film release “Summer in February”, starring Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, Dominic Cooper and Emily Browning, about the life of the infamous British artist Sir Alfred Munnings.
Michael Escolme 