Beschreibung:

ROBERT POLHILL BEVAN (BRITISH 1865-1925) ON LUPPITT HILL, BARN FARM, LOOKING TOWARDS HARTRIDGE COMMON Oil on canvas Signed (lower right) 64 x 75cm (25 x 29½ in.)Provenance: Private Collection, Robert Alexander Bevan (1901-1974), second son of Robert Bevan and Stanislawa de Karlowska Sale, Christie's, London, Modern British and Irish Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings & Sculpture, 23 June 1994, lot 116, where purchased by Robert Kime From a young age Robert Bevan's career path had been carefully planned out for him. Born into a family of bankers his family descended from Silvanus Bevan and Robert Barclay which founded Barclay, Bevan, Tritton and Co. of Lombard Street in London. Today simply known as Barclays. However, Bevan rejected the invitation to continue his education and follow in his family's foosteps he wished to pursue his interest and passion in the arts and partake in formal training at the Westminter School of Art. These endeavours were financially supported by his family. After initial study in London Bevan moved to the Academie Julien in Paris where he studied alongside artists such as Pierre Bonnard and Maurice Denis. In 1890, Bevan headed south to the picturesque region of Brittany, where he became entrenched in the vibrant artistic community of Pont-Aven, alongside notable figures such as Paul Gauguin.In 1896, Bevan married Stanislawa de Karlowska, a fellow art student, and the couple settled in London. Stanislawa or better known as Stasia was originally from Poland and the couple would take long trips to visit her family and homeland. The summers of 1901, 1903 and 1904 were spent in Poland at Szeliwy family property, see Lot 323. The couple frequently ventured to the country, including the West Country and Sussex-places that held personal significance for Bevan. The present lot illustrates a small farm dwelling with a patchwork of fields beyond sprawling across the hills with two horses in the foreground. Inspired by the rhythm and serenity of everyday country life, Bevan found himself drawn to the motif of the horse. Bevan produced a series of paintings and lithographs centred around horse dealers and sellers at the Barbican and Tattersall, images of which were collected by Robert Kime including Lot 12 through to 17.Around the same period, during the summers of 1916-1919 Robert Bevan spent the majority of his time at a house called Lytchett's on Hart's Farm on Bolham Water in Devon. It is most likely that the present lot was produced during this period whilst staying at Lytchett's immersed in the rustic countryside, Bevan's body of work during this period is bold in colour and peaceful in nature. Anne Chard, the farmer's daughter recalled in an article for The Somerset County Gazette in 1978 and 1980 that 'some of us can remember, during childhood, meeting a solitary gentleman tramping miles by foot across the Blackdown Hills and Luppitt areas. He either carried a sketchbook and pencil or paints and easel tucked under his arm. He wore a bowler hat, light grey check suit with a watch-chain across his waistcoat. A bow tie and spats added to the elegance of his appearance.'During his time at Lytchett's, Bevan developed a deep fascination with close-up depictions of barns and dwellings. An exemplary work from this period, "The Chesnut Tree" (Hart's Farm), painted in 1916, now housed at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, illustrates Bevan's distinct artistic approach. Each work has been constructed in a similar manner, using the placement of the trees to build the layers of composition and create perspective. The dwelling fills the majority of the canvas made up of simple geometric shapes in subdued natural colours and in the foreground animals grazing carefree in the midst of nature.