Richard Ansdell

Lady Caroline Harriet Towneley with her daughters outside Croxteth Hall

1841

Victorian 19th-century arts and crafts figure scene from a Shakespeare play Robert Anning Bell was born on 14 April 1863 and educated at University College School in London. At the age of fifteen, he was articled for two years to an architect uncle before studying at the Royal Academy Schools, the Westminster School of Art (under Fred Brown), in Paris (under Aimé Morot...

Oil on canvas c.1855 - 1860 Image size: 19 x 14 inches (48.25 x 37.25 cm) Original Watts frame The Sitter Herbert William Fisher (1826 - 1903) was a British historian, best known for his 'Considerations on the Origin of the American War' (1865). Fisher was tutor to the future King Edward VII, and served as Private Secretary to the 5th Duke of Newcastle. in 1863 he became Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, his former pupil, before being appointed to the position of Vice-Warden of the Stannaries in 1870. One of his daughters, Adeline, married Ralph Vaughan Williams. George Frederick Watts Watts (1817 - 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He is known to have said 'I paint ideas, not things'. Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as 'Hope' and 'Love and Life' in which the emotions and aspiration life were intended to be represented in a universal symbolic language. Watts was born in Marylebone in central London on the birthday of George Frederic Handel (after whom he was named), to the second wife of a poor piano-maker. He showed artistic promise very early, learning sculpture from the age of 10 with William Behnes, starting to study devotedly the Elgin Marbles (later writing "It was from them alone that I learned") and then enrolling as a student at the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 18. He first exhibited at the Academy in 1837, with a picture of "The Wounded Heron" and two portraits, but his attendance at the Academy was short-lived, and his further art education was confined to personal experiment and endeavour, guided by a constant appeal to the standard of ancient Greek sculpture. He also began his portraiture career, receiving patronage from his close contemporary Alexander Constantine Ionides, who later came to be a close friend. In 1849 the first two of the allegorical compositions which form the most characteristic of the artist's productions were exhibited—"Life's Illusions," an elaborate presentment of the vanity of human desires, and "The people that sat in darkness," turning eagerly towards the growing dawn. In 1850 he first gave public expression to his intense longing to improve the condition of humanity in the picture of "The Good Samaritan" bending over the wounded traveller; this, as recorded in the catalogue of the Royal Academy, was "painted as an expression of the artist's admiration and respect for the noble philanthropy of Thomas Wright, of Manchester," and to that city he presented the work. From the late 1840s onward he painted many portraits in France and England, some of which are described below. Notable pictures of the same period are “Sir Galahad...

Attributed to George Earl Exceptional English 19th century oil on board of a terrier head study in profile. The quality of the painting is totally outstanding with great skill in how the eyes and fur are painted throughout the painting. The Earl family were all very skilled painters of animal portraits . This piece has all the quality of either George or Thomas Earl...

Portrait of Girl with Plaited Hair European School, late 19th century oil on canvas, framed framed: 41.5 x 35.5 inches canvas: 36 x 30 inches provenance: private collection, UK condi...

English 19th century portrait of the Clipper ship Crescent in full sail. Acquiring a 19th-century English portrait of a clipper ship is more than just adding a painting to your coll...

Portrait of a Nun French School, 19th century oil on canvas, simple wooden slip frame framed: 27.5 x 20 inches canvas: 27 x 19.75 inches provenance: private collection, Champagne reg...