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Auction archive: Lot number 50

Walter Frederick Osborne (1859 -1903

IMPORTANT IRISH ART
29 Sep 2021
Estimate
€70,000 - €100,000
ca. US$81,658 - US$116,654
Price realised:
€60,000
ca. US$69,992
Auction archive: Lot number 50

Walter Frederick Osborne (1859 -1903

IMPORTANT IRISH ART
29 Sep 2021
Estimate
€70,000 - €100,000
ca. US$81,658 - US$116,654
Price realised:
€60,000
ca. US$69,992
Beschreibung:

Walter Frederick Osborne (1859 -1903) The Pump of St Nicholas, Antwerp Oil on Canvas, 45 x 32cm (17¾ x 12½'') Signed 'F.W. Osborne' on the stretcher J.D. Spense Picture Frame Makers label verso. Provenance: Collection of Mr Hanna (of Fred Hanna's Bookshop) who purchased the painting from Orgel & Co. 35 Nassau Street, Dublin 2 in 1963. Exhibited: probably Royal Hibernia Academy 1883, no. 150, ' The Pump of St Nicholas, Antwerp', £10. Literature: Thomas Bodkin, ‘Four Irish Landscape Painters’, Dublin and London 1920, Appendix XI, p.117; Julian Campbell, ‘Irish Students in Antwerp in the 19th Century’, in Logan Sisley, ed. ‘Eugeen Van Mieghem, Port Life’, 2017, p.79. ‘The Pump of St. Nicholas, Antwerp’ was one of the first open-air pictures that Walter Osborne painted on the Continent. It shows two girls fetching water at a pump, the statue of Nicholas seated above, careful attention given to every detail of the background. There are striking contrasts of sunshine and shadow, showing the artist’s joy in representing an everyday scene with figures in sunshine. Exhibited in Dublin in 1883 when Osborne was still a student, the painting introduced a dramatic new strand of realism into Irish art. Born in Dublin in 1859, the son of successful animal painter William Osborne Walter first studied in Dublin, at the Metropolitan School of Art and the RHA Schools, then continued his studies in Antwerp. Along with contemporaries from Ireland and Britain, he was drawn towards the Academie Royale, Antwerp by the presence of realist painter Karl Verlat as Professor of Painting there, the cheap cost of living and the fact that some of the teachers spoke English. Antwerp was located almost ninety kilometres from the North Sea but, situated on the River Scheldt, was one of the busiest ports in Europe and the late 19th century saw a great revival of Flemish culture (2). Osborne and fellow students from Dublin, J.M. Kavanagh and Nathaniel Hill arrived in Antwerp in autumn 1881. He entered Verlat’s life class. By 1882 he was already painting outdoor scenes in the little streets and courtyards near the cathedral. ‘The Pump of St. Nicholas’, with its statue on a tall column, was located in a square in the old city. St. Nicholas was one of the most popular of Christian saints, regarded as the patron of children, travellers and sailors and is the guardian of young women. Osborne features two girls near the pump, an older woman seated by a wall behind and considerable attention is given to the Flemish buildings and surroundings. The girl on the left is walking from the pump, carrying her green pitcher of water. The woman on the right appears to be looking back at her. Both figures are healthy-looking, wearing white bonnets, rough jackets, dresses or aprons and clogs. Osborne represents the background details and buildings: the statue, the metalwork pump handle, the old stone or plaster walls and roof tiles with equal care. He skilfully conveys the weathered surfaces with textured brushstrokes, the foreground cobbles, for instance, strikingly impastoed. His delight in observing details, such as pots of geraniums on the window sills, the letters ‘estaminet’ (referring to an inn) on the wall, clothes on a washing line and the blue socks worn by the girls is also evident! Impastoed brushwork visible beneath the image of the right-hand girl suggests that her figure may have been added afterwards. The glimpse of blue sky above the rooftops and the white clouds, perhaps conveyed with a palette knife, give a sense of freedom from daily activity. A contemporary critic observed of such pictures: ‘a certain blackness in the shadows… characteristic of the Antwerp method’ (2). But there is a richness in the use of earthy tones and in Osborne’s skill in painting and his affection for the young women, their faces lit up by sunlight. Remembering the happy times of his student days, the artist returned to Antwerp in 1894 and painted a study of St. Nicholas’ pump again (

Auction archive: Lot number 50
Auction:
Datum:
29 Sep 2021
Auction house:
Adams's
St Stephens Green 26
D02 X665 Dublin 2
Ireland
info@adams.ie
+353-1-6760261)
Beschreibung:

Walter Frederick Osborne (1859 -1903) The Pump of St Nicholas, Antwerp Oil on Canvas, 45 x 32cm (17¾ x 12½'') Signed 'F.W. Osborne' on the stretcher J.D. Spense Picture Frame Makers label verso. Provenance: Collection of Mr Hanna (of Fred Hanna's Bookshop) who purchased the painting from Orgel & Co. 35 Nassau Street, Dublin 2 in 1963. Exhibited: probably Royal Hibernia Academy 1883, no. 150, ' The Pump of St Nicholas, Antwerp', £10. Literature: Thomas Bodkin, ‘Four Irish Landscape Painters’, Dublin and London 1920, Appendix XI, p.117; Julian Campbell, ‘Irish Students in Antwerp in the 19th Century’, in Logan Sisley, ed. ‘Eugeen Van Mieghem, Port Life’, 2017, p.79. ‘The Pump of St. Nicholas, Antwerp’ was one of the first open-air pictures that Walter Osborne painted on the Continent. It shows two girls fetching water at a pump, the statue of Nicholas seated above, careful attention given to every detail of the background. There are striking contrasts of sunshine and shadow, showing the artist’s joy in representing an everyday scene with figures in sunshine. Exhibited in Dublin in 1883 when Osborne was still a student, the painting introduced a dramatic new strand of realism into Irish art. Born in Dublin in 1859, the son of successful animal painter William Osborne Walter first studied in Dublin, at the Metropolitan School of Art and the RHA Schools, then continued his studies in Antwerp. Along with contemporaries from Ireland and Britain, he was drawn towards the Academie Royale, Antwerp by the presence of realist painter Karl Verlat as Professor of Painting there, the cheap cost of living and the fact that some of the teachers spoke English. Antwerp was located almost ninety kilometres from the North Sea but, situated on the River Scheldt, was one of the busiest ports in Europe and the late 19th century saw a great revival of Flemish culture (2). Osborne and fellow students from Dublin, J.M. Kavanagh and Nathaniel Hill arrived in Antwerp in autumn 1881. He entered Verlat’s life class. By 1882 he was already painting outdoor scenes in the little streets and courtyards near the cathedral. ‘The Pump of St. Nicholas’, with its statue on a tall column, was located in a square in the old city. St. Nicholas was one of the most popular of Christian saints, regarded as the patron of children, travellers and sailors and is the guardian of young women. Osborne features two girls near the pump, an older woman seated by a wall behind and considerable attention is given to the Flemish buildings and surroundings. The girl on the left is walking from the pump, carrying her green pitcher of water. The woman on the right appears to be looking back at her. Both figures are healthy-looking, wearing white bonnets, rough jackets, dresses or aprons and clogs. Osborne represents the background details and buildings: the statue, the metalwork pump handle, the old stone or plaster walls and roof tiles with equal care. He skilfully conveys the weathered surfaces with textured brushstrokes, the foreground cobbles, for instance, strikingly impastoed. His delight in observing details, such as pots of geraniums on the window sills, the letters ‘estaminet’ (referring to an inn) on the wall, clothes on a washing line and the blue socks worn by the girls is also evident! Impastoed brushwork visible beneath the image of the right-hand girl suggests that her figure may have been added afterwards. The glimpse of blue sky above the rooftops and the white clouds, perhaps conveyed with a palette knife, give a sense of freedom from daily activity. A contemporary critic observed of such pictures: ‘a certain blackness in the shadows… characteristic of the Antwerp method’ (2). But there is a richness in the use of earthy tones and in Osborne’s skill in painting and his affection for the young women, their faces lit up by sunlight. Remembering the happy times of his student days, the artist returned to Antwerp in 1894 and painted a study of St. Nicholas’ pump again (

Auction archive: Lot number 50
Auction:
Datum:
29 Sep 2021
Auction house:
Adams's
St Stephens Green 26
D02 X665 Dublin 2
Ireland
info@adams.ie
+353-1-6760261)
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