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Dimensions: each: 28 by 36in.; 71.5 by 91.5cm
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Provenance: With Newhouse Galleries, Inc., New York;
Selected by Mr. and Mrs. Kay Kimbell and acquired by the Kimbell Art Foundation, 1962;
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth;
By whom sold, New York, Sotheby's, June 4, 1987, lot 144;
Private collection, England.
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Literature: C. Reginald Grundy, James Ward R.A., His Life and Works, with a Catalgue of his Engravings and Pictures, London 1909, p. 42, nos. 224 & 224A, p. 70, nos. 31 & 32, Disobedience in Danger, color mezzotint, reproduced facing p. lvi;
F. Cummings, Romantic Art in Britain, Paintings and Drawings, 1760-1860, exhibition catalogue, Detroit 1968, pp. 180-181;
Kimbell Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection, Fort Worth 1972, pp. 156-158, reproduced (one in color);
Kimbell Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection, Fort Worth 1981, p. 49, reproduced;
O. Beckett, The Life and Work of James Ward, R.A., Sussex 1995, pp. 28 & 161.
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Notes: QUANTITY: 2
Ward began his artistic career as a mezzotint engraver first under John Raphael Smith then under his brother William. Among the artists whose work he engraved was George Morland, his brother-in-law. The style and conception of the present pair of paintings was surely influenced by Morland. Ward, himself, wrote in 1807, "I had never seen anyone paint but Morland. I was always fascinated with his pictures, and not having seen any old master, I conceived what was stated to me, that he surpassed everyone, ancient and modern. It was rustic taste at that date and so, as I was fond of rusticity, it was natural that I should dash into that style."
Ward enjoyed much success with his genre scenes, which were in great demand in the latter part of the 18th century. His fame was further enhanced by his appointment as Painter and Mezzotint Engraver to the Prince of Wales.
The present pair of canvases were engraved by William Barnard in 1799.
