Artist: Walter Frederick Osborne RHA (1859-1903) Title: The Hurdy-Gurdy Player (c.1887) Signature: signed lower right Medium: oil on panel Size: 37 x 25½cm (14 x 10in) Provenance: Purchased from the Cynthia O'Connor Gallery 1980; Important Irish Art, Adam's, Dublin 4th December 2012 Lot 62; Private Collection Exhibited: Recent Acquisitions, Cynthia O'Connor Gallery, May-June 1980, cat. no. 10; ''Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' The AVA Gallery, June - Sept 2012, Cat. No. 42 Literature: "Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' Exhibition Catalogue, illustration p.49; Important Irish Art, Adam's, Dublin, 2012, illustrared p.80-81; More info: Click to read more about this lot Walter Osborne spent much of the 1880's dividing his time between Ireland and England. During several summers he worked in English villages and small towns, in 1887, for example, in Berkshire and Hampshire. It is possible that the present painting 'The Hurdy-Gurdy Player' is set in Newbury, Berkshire. Osborne enjoyed observing daily village life, with a cross-section of local people going about their business: walking, shopping or plying their wares, women chatting, and children going to school, and so on. On the right side there is a group of people, including a girl with red scarf, a boy with cap and a woman with black scarf. To the left stands the hurdy-gurdy man playing his instrument and there are other figures in the background. The hurdy-gurdy was a stringed musical instrument which was played by turning a handle to produce a background drone, and the pressing of keys to play the tune. The instrument dated to the early middle ages and became popular among travelling musicians in Savoy and in the low counties in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The player and his instrument aroused the curiosity of some artists, who represented them in their paintings. In Osborne's picture, the street is in shadow, but sunlight falls upon some upper walls and chimney stacks. The artist employs warm reddish-browns, burnt sienna and amber tones. The figures are painted skilfully, while there are deft horizontal brushstrokes in the foreground and blurred 'square-brush' strokes in the chimney stacks. Interesting architectural features in 'The Hurdy-Gurdy Player' are the diagonal 'hipped' edge of the high roof, (to protect against high winds), and the tall chimney stacks. Julian Campbell, November 2016
Artist: Walter Frederick Osborne RHA (1859-1903) Title: The Hurdy-Gurdy Player (c.1887) Signature: signed lower right Medium: oil on panel Size: 37 x 25½cm (14 x 10in) Provenance: Purchased from the Cynthia O'Connor Gallery 1980; Important Irish Art, Adam's, Dublin 4th December 2012 Lot 62; Private Collection Exhibited: Recent Acquisitions, Cynthia O'Connor Gallery, May-June 1980, cat. no. 10; ''Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' The AVA Gallery, June - Sept 2012, Cat. No. 42 Literature: "Ireland: Her People and Landscape'' Exhibition Catalogue, illustration p.49; Important Irish Art, Adam's, Dublin, 2012, illustrared p.80-81; More info: Click to read more about this lot Walter Osborne spent much of the 1880's dividing his time between Ireland and England. During several summers he worked in English villages and small towns, in 1887, for example, in Berkshire and Hampshire. It is possible that the present painting 'The Hurdy-Gurdy Player' is set in Newbury, Berkshire. Osborne enjoyed observing daily village life, with a cross-section of local people going about their business: walking, shopping or plying their wares, women chatting, and children going to school, and so on. On the right side there is a group of people, including a girl with red scarf, a boy with cap and a woman with black scarf. To the left stands the hurdy-gurdy man playing his instrument and there are other figures in the background. The hurdy-gurdy was a stringed musical instrument which was played by turning a handle to produce a background drone, and the pressing of keys to play the tune. The instrument dated to the early middle ages and became popular among travelling musicians in Savoy and in the low counties in the 17th and 18th Centuries. The player and his instrument aroused the curiosity of some artists, who represented them in their paintings. In Osborne's picture, the street is in shadow, but sunlight falls upon some upper walls and chimney stacks. The artist employs warm reddish-browns, burnt sienna and amber tones. The figures are painted skilfully, while there are deft horizontal brushstrokes in the foreground and blurred 'square-brush' strokes in the chimney stacks. Interesting architectural features in 'The Hurdy-Gurdy Player' are the diagonal 'hipped' edge of the high roof, (to protect against high winds), and the tall chimney stacks. Julian Campbell, November 2016
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