Wain (Louis, 1860-1839). "The Japanese Village, Knightsbridge", 1885, a pair of large pen & ink drawings on artist's board, each with a variety of captioned oriental scenes, e.g. 'A Fan Shop', 'Fencing', 'Umbrella Maker', 'In the Temple', 'The Theatre', 'An Artist', one titled to lower margin 'Japanese Village' and signed lower left, occasional very light toning and spots, each with a number of unobtrusive pin holes, verso of each with pencilled title, printer's instructions, and date of issue (2nd and 17th January 1885 respectively), each 46.5 x 33.5 cm (18.25 x 13.25 ins), matching mounts (Qty: 2) 'The Japanese Village in Knightsbridge' was an exhibition held at Humphrey's Hall aimed at showing Japanese life and culture by placing skilled Japanese men and women attired in national costume in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village. The mania for all things oriental which had begun in the middle of the century was reaching a peak by the 1880s, and the exhibition was visited by over a million visitors by the time it closed in June 1887, having run for 18 months. Louis Wain was commissioned, over a period of four years, to do various illustrative work for The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, a high class weekly journal featuring sports, arts, literature, music and drama. These two drawings for the paper, showing scenes from the aforementioned exhibition, were executed early in the artist's career, before he had published any drawings of the large-eyed cats and dogs for which he is famed. Indeed, it wasn't until the following year, in 1886, that Wain's first drawings of cats engaged in human pursuits appeared, firstly in a children's book entitled Madame Tabby's Establishment and then in an 11-panel narrative titled 'A Kittens' Christmas Party', published in the Christmas issue of the Illustrated London News. Even then, the felines are depicted on all fours, unclothed, and without the variety of human-like expression that would characterize Wain's later work. It is interesting to note that in one of the early works offered here the artist couldn't resist the inclusion of a group of distinctly anthropomorphic frogs, two apparently dancing and wearing grass skirts.
Wain (Louis, 1860-1839). "The Japanese Village, Knightsbridge", 1885, a pair of large pen & ink drawings on artist's board, each with a variety of captioned oriental scenes, e.g. 'A Fan Shop', 'Fencing', 'Umbrella Maker', 'In the Temple', 'The Theatre', 'An Artist', one titled to lower margin 'Japanese Village' and signed lower left, occasional very light toning and spots, each with a number of unobtrusive pin holes, verso of each with pencilled title, printer's instructions, and date of issue (2nd and 17th January 1885 respectively), each 46.5 x 33.5 cm (18.25 x 13.25 ins), matching mounts (Qty: 2) 'The Japanese Village in Knightsbridge' was an exhibition held at Humphrey's Hall aimed at showing Japanese life and culture by placing skilled Japanese men and women attired in national costume in a setting built to resemble a traditional Japanese village. The mania for all things oriental which had begun in the middle of the century was reaching a peak by the 1880s, and the exhibition was visited by over a million visitors by the time it closed in June 1887, having run for 18 months. Louis Wain was commissioned, over a period of four years, to do various illustrative work for The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, a high class weekly journal featuring sports, arts, literature, music and drama. These two drawings for the paper, showing scenes from the aforementioned exhibition, were executed early in the artist's career, before he had published any drawings of the large-eyed cats and dogs for which he is famed. Indeed, it wasn't until the following year, in 1886, that Wain's first drawings of cats engaged in human pursuits appeared, firstly in a children's book entitled Madame Tabby's Establishment and then in an 11-panel narrative titled 'A Kittens' Christmas Party', published in the Christmas issue of the Illustrated London News. Even then, the felines are depicted on all fours, unclothed, and without the variety of human-like expression that would characterize Wain's later work. It is interesting to note that in one of the early works offered here the artist couldn't resist the inclusion of a group of distinctly anthropomorphic frogs, two apparently dancing and wearing grass skirts.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
