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signed ARTHUR J. ELSLEY (lower left)

oil on canvas

Please note that this lot will be sold unframed.

PROVENANCE

Purchased at Marshall Field & Company, Chicago (circa 1945)
(thence by descent)
LITERATURE AND REFERENCES

Terry Parker, Golden Hours, the Paintings of Arthur J Elsley, 1860-1952, Somerset, England, 1998, pp. 88 and 129, the chromolithograph illustrated, p. 88
CATALOGUE NOTE

Painted circa 1919.

An Uninvited Guest shows Arthur Elsley at the height of his creative powers, beautifully conveying the simple pleasure shared by children in the wholesome pursuit of life outdoors. The older girl seen here is the artist's only child Marjorie. Born in 1903, Marjorie figures heavily in Elsley's enormous success as a painter of children. Victorian artists often tried their hand at this popular subject matter by first painting their own children; the warmth and connection that Marjorie makes in this work and many others was first and foremost the connection of a daughter to her father.

The nineteenth century saw profound social change in England. The advent of the industrial age both enriched a new middle class and affected dramatically the lives of the working poor, a group which included many children. By the 1840's both social reformers and sympathetic authors such as Charles Dickens reminded Victorians what it meant to be a child. With Dickens' highly anticipated serialized novels Oliver Twist (1839) and David Copperfield (1849-1850) the author enjoyed an effective platform for advancing fair working practices and for casting a light on the harsh living conditions of countless poor young people. The antiquated notion that childhood was merely a dangerous period before a person's moral character had been fully formed fell out of favor. And many artists and writers charmed their audiences by depicting children at their own particular pursuits, often seeking amusement.

An Uninvited Guest features two girls enjoying time in a garden. Marjorie places a protective arm around the shoulder of her younger friend, and the young puppies who cling to her further emphasize the central role she plays. The frog, the source of the work's title, seems a small threat, instead appearing to be as much as a source for comedy as for surprise. Elsley achieved the spontaneity in the expressions of his models (both human and animal) by photographing them, thereby capturing their guileless charm on film before translating it to the canvas. The girls are without care; no adult intrudes on their little world. Elsley's works were hugely popular and reached the widest possible audience when they were turned into chromolithographs, which were made into calendars and advertisements. In fact Elsley's subjects were in such demand that the copper plates used to make the prints would often wear away and require recreation.