Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Harwich signed and dated 'P. W Steer 1929' l.r., watercolour over pencil (23 x 33cm; framed 50.5 x 59cm) Provenance: With Charles A Jackson, Manchester, 1943. Condition Report: A little time staining and fading commensurate with age. Well presented and ready to hang. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) 'View at Greenwich', 1895 signed 'P. W. Steer' l.r., watercolour over pencil (21 x 34cm; framed 40 x 53cm) Provenance: The Little Gallery, London; the collection of T R Ablett. Condition Report: The colours are slightly muted, commensurate with the age of the work. There are a couple of small yellow spots in the lower left corner where the paint appears slightly rubbed. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) A river with barges signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1927' l.l., watercolour (21.5 x 29cm; framed 41.5 x 48.5cm) Condition Report: Executed on laid paper with a little rippling. Time staining, discolouration and fading commensurate with age, please refer to illustration. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Clouds by the coast signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1921' verso, watercolour (23.5 x 32cm; framed 48 x 57cm) Condition Report: Presents well overall. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Rotherhithe signed and dated 'P. W. Steer '26' l.r., watercolour (35.5 x 28.5cm; framed 50.5 x 47cm) Condition Report: There is a little orange spotting to the left edge where the paint appears slightly 'bleached', please refer to illustration. Presents well overall and ready to hang. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) 'Stormy Weather, Walmer' signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1934' l.l., watercolour (22.5 x 31cm; framed 41 x 50.5cm) Provenance: With Browse & Darby Ltd., London. Condition Report: Executed on laid paper. Fading commensurate with the age of the work. It is not clear if the sheet has been laid down. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Shipping in Dover Harbour signed and dated 'P. W Steer 1918' l.l., watercolour over pencil (23.5 x 34cm; framed 43.5 x 52cm) Condition Report: A little time staining and fading commensurate with age, however presents well overall. There are a couple of small scratches to the left of the boat in the foreground in the lower right corner. There is a small spot in the sky where the paint appears a little lighter just above the area of brown paint at the bottom right of the upper right quarter. For additional images please contact the department. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Dover signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1918' l.l., watercolour (21.5 x 31cm; framed 44.5 x 54.5cm) Condition Report: Executed on buff paper. Some of the lighter washes are possibly a little faded, however the work presents well overall. Not viewed out of glazed frame. Ready to hang.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) Ludlow Bridge signed and dated 'P W Steer 1900' l.r., watercolour over pencil (24.5 x 35.5cm; framed 47.5 x 57cm) Provenance: With Cork Street Gallery, London, where purchased by H G Curl Esq., May 1968. Condition Report: Executed on light grey paper. Some of the blue, green and brown washes appear to be a little faded in places, please refer to illustration. There is a small faint brown circular stain to the centre of the lower edge. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (British, 1860-1942) A wooded landscape oil on board (15 x 21cm; framed 24 x 30cm) Provenance: Hargesheimer Kunst auction, Düsseldorf, 2016. Condition Report: Slight bowing to the board with some surface dirt and discolouration, may benefit from a light clean. Not examined under UV light, for a full report please contact the department.
Steer (Philip Wilson, 1860-1942). Coastal landscape, Harrich, watercolour * Steer (Philip Wilson, 1860-1942). Barges, Harwich, 1929, watercolour on paper, signed in ink and dated 1929 lower left, sheet size 23.5 x 30 cm (9 1/4 x 11 7/8 ins), gilt frame, glazed, with original printed framer's label to verso of Chas. A. Jackson, Fine Art Dealer, Carver & Gilder, Picture Frame Manufacturer, 7 Police Street, Manchester (inscribed in pencil 'No. 3 Barges, Harwich), old black auction stencil 744WX, and recent Garton & Co. printed label QTY: (1) NOTE: Provenance: Collection of Robin Garton (1945-2015).
Philip Wilson Steer (British, 1860-1942) Blue Period Portrait of a Lady Circa 1900 Signed lower left Dimensions: (Canvas) 25 in. (H) x 20 in. (W) (Frame) 31 in. (H) x 26 in. (W)
Philip Wilson Steer (British, 1860-1942) Susannah, Nude Oil on canvas Circa 1920 With old Christie's labels and stamps reverse Provenance: Exhibited New England Art Club London, 1925 Christie's London, 8th June 2001, Lot 106 Dimensions: (Frame) 20 in. (H) x 26 in. (W)
Philip Wilson Steer (British, 1860-1942) Blue Period Portrait of a Lady Circa 1900 Signed lower left Dimensions: (Canvas) 25 in. (H) x 20 in. (W) (Frame) 31 in. (H) x 26 in. (W)
Philip Wilson Steer (British, 1860-1942) Susannah, Nude Oil on canvas Circa 1920 With old Christie's labels and stamps reverse Provenance: Exhibited New England Art Club London, 1925 Christie's London, 8th June 2001, Lot 106 Dimensions: (Frame) 20 in. (H) x 26 in. (W)
Philip Wilson Steer (English, 1860-1942). "Harwich" - late 19th / early 20th century, watercolor on paper, signed "PWS" to LL, dealers label to verso for "RJP" Robert J. Perham, Fine Paintings, Bristol, England, tag from Carolina Conservation, Irmo, SC affixed to verso. Framed. Provenance: Estate of Scott Hudgens and Jacqueline Casey Hudgens, Duluth, GA. Approximate dimensions: sight h. 6.875", w. 10.625"; frame h. 14", w. 17.5", d. 0.75".
Philip Wilson Steer (English, 1860-1942). "Snowy Landscape" - late 19th / early 20th century, watercolor on paper, apparently unsigned, dealers label to verso for "RJP" Robert J. Perham, Fine Paintings, Bristol, England, tag from Carolina Conservation, Irmo, SC affixed to verso. Framed. Provenance: Estate of Scott Hudgens and Jacqueline Casey Hudgens, Duluth, GA. Approximate dimensions: sight h. 8.125", w. 11.75"; frame h. 17", w. 20.5", d. 1.25".
Steer (Philip Wilson, 1860-1942). Coastal landscape, Harrich, watercolour * Steer (Philip Wilson, 1860-1942). Barges, Harwich, 1929, watercolour on paper, signed in ink and dated 1929 lower left, sheet size 23.5 x 30 cm (9 1/4 x 11 7/8 ins), gilt frame, glazed, with original printed framer's label to verso of Chas. A. Jackson, Fine Art Dealer, Carver & Gilder, Picture Frame Manufacturer, 7 Police Street, Manchester (inscribed in pencil 'No. 3 Barges, Harwich), old black auction stencil 744WX, and recent Garton & Co. printed label QTY: (1) NOTE: Provenance: Collection of Robin Garton (1945-2015).
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942)DOVER HARBOURWatercolourInscribed and dated Dover Harbour 1930 (verso, according the previous cataloguing)24.5 x 30.5cm (9½ x 12 in.)Provenance:W.R. Hornby Steer EsqSpink and Son LtdSale Sotheby's, London, Modern British & Irish Paintings, 6 October 1993, lot 29 (unsold).Sale Christie's, London, Modern British & Irish Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculpture, 20 June 1995, lot 257
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942)A VALLEY NEAR STROUDWatercolour over pencil, on buff paper24.5 x 36.5cm (9½ x 14¼ in.)Provenance:Sale Sotheby's, London, Modern British & Irish Paintings, 6 October 1993, lot 37 (unsold).Sale Christie's, London, Modern British & Irish Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings and Sculpture, 20 June 1995, lot 254
Philip Wilson Steer OM NEAC, British 1860-1942 - Landscape study, 1901; watercolour on paper, signed and dated lower left 'PW Steer 1901', 11.6 x 19.3 cm Provenance: with Ernest Hilton Ltd., Cambridge (according to the label attached to the reverse of the frame); Jeffrey Judelson (1942-2023) and thence by descent Note: the work demonstrates Steer's complete mastery of impressionism and the examples of the great masters, Turner, Whistler and Monet, in his depiction of the transitory effects of light and atmosphere. Finding the New: Jeffrey Judelson (1942-2023). Jeffrey Judelson was an intensely private man. A polyglot, a writer, a teacher of English and yoga, an intrepid investor and a quietly obsessive art collector. He travelled extensively, acquiring beautiful objects for his modest north London home, which eventually contained thousands of books, carpets and curios, as well as his beloved art collection. The pleasure he took in eating in fine restaurants was Proustian. His few close friends were artists, curators, art historians, writers and musicians. He attended any artistic event that caught his eye - concerts, opera, ballet, theatre and of course, exhibitions. This unique collection represents more than 60 years of “finding the new”. Jeffrey’s eye delighted in small details - and detail abounds in the diverse and eclectic objects and paintings he collected which included an appreciation of 16th century Safavid gouache and Rajasthani miniatures. From 1960, Jeffrey’s purchases ranged from Old Master Prints to the Post War era to then unknown artists emerging during the 50s and 60s. He was also fascinated by works that represented connections between teacher and pupil.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (1860-1942) Woodland path, Knaresborough, c.1900 watercolour, bodycolour, charcoal and pencil 24 x 36cm Provenance: With Barbizon House, London; Anon. sale, Sotheby's, Olympia, 16 February 2006, lot 17; a private collection, UK. Condition Report: Framed: 47 x 57cm Slight undulations to the sheet however presents well overall. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942)MRS GEOFFREY BLACKWELL Oil on canvas Signed and dated 1911 (lower left) 127 x 101.6cm (50 x 40 in.)Provenance:Geoffrey Blackwell, OBE (1884-1943), then by descent Exhibited: London, National Portrait Society, Inaugural Exhibition, January 1911Literature: 'National Portrait Society: A Representative Display', London Evening Standard, 20 January 1911, p. 7'National Portrait Society', Daily News, 21 January 1911, p. 7'National Portrait Society', Manchester Courier, 21 January 1911, p. 6Lewis Hind, 'A Peep at the latest Portrait Exhibition', The Daily Chronicle, 21 January 1911, p. 6'National Portrait Society', The Daily Telegraph, 25 January 1911, p. 15'Art', Ladies' Pictorial, 28 January 1911, p. 134Martin Hardie, 'The World of Art: The National Portrait Society', The Queen, The Lady's Paper, 28 January 1911, p. 173'Art', Truth, 1 February 1911, p. 42'Artists at work and play at the Grafton Galleries', The Sphere, 4 February 1911, p. 98Laurence Binyon, 'Portraits and Sculpture', The Saturday Review, 11 February 1911, p. 171JB Manson, 'Mr Geoffrey Blackwell's Collection of Modern Pictures', The Studio, vol 61, 1914, p. 282DS MacColl, Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer, 1945 (Faber and Faber), p. 213Bruce Laughton, Philip Wilson Steer, 1971, (Oxford, Clarendon Press), p. 82, 149, (no.452), illus fig. 149To read the catalogue note by Kenneth McConkey please follow this link.
Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942) 'Trees by a Winding Road', pencil on paper, 16.5 x 24cm Provenance: with the Little Gallery, Kensington Church Walk 'An Anthology of Trees' 1971
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - Sunset, Hawes, Wensleydale, 1904; oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right 'P W Steer ', 43 x 54 cm Provenance: H.C. Lawrence (according to the handwritten label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Private Collection Exhibited: National Gallery, 'Steer Memorial Exhibition', June-August 1943, no.50 Literature: Bruce Laughton, 'Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942', Oxford, 1971, no.341, p.144 Note: Steer made a number of works depicting the Yorkshire landscape around Hawes in 1904. In these works he focused primarily on the sky, as seen in the present work, lowering the horizon line so that the sunset almost entirely fills the pictorial plane. The work demonstrates Steer's complete mastery of Impressionism and the examples of the great masters, Turner, Whistler and Monet, in his depiction of the transitory effects of light.
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942) SUMMER PICNIC, EVENING NEAR BRIDGENORTH signed P.W. Steer lower left oil on panel 25.5 x 35cm; 10 x 13 3/4in 42.5 x 51.5cm; 16 3/4 x 20 1/4in (framed) Property from the Estate of a Gentleman Provenance Charles A. Jackson, Manchester (by June 1941) Mr O. Hughes-Jones, Bury Exhibited Birkenhead, Williamson Art Gallery, Festival of Britain: Wilson Steer Exhibition, 1951 Manchester, County Borough of Bury Art Gallery, Steer, Sickert, Epstein, 1954 Leicestershire Museums and Art Galleries (on loan from 1975) Scenes around Bridgenorth recur in Steer's work from the 1910s onwards when he shared a studio there with his painter friends Fred Brown and William Coles. By then Steer's style had graduated away from the impressionistic style he had developed in Paris and practiced on his return to London in 1884 when he painted in Walberswick and co-founded the New English Art Club. Instead, as Professor of Painting at the Slade School of Art (1893-1930) he looked to English precedents, notably Gainsborough, Turner and Constable, the last of these giants of British painting clearly evident in the present work. Teaching alongside Brown and Henry Tonks at the Slade, Steer influenced the next generation of painters, amongst them David Bomberg (lot 56), Mark Gertler, Augustus and Gwen John, Winifred Knights, William Orpen, William Roberts, Stanley Spencer and Percy Wyndham Lewis.
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - River at Bridgnorth (with Fishermen), 1911; oil on canvas, 46 x 61.5 cm Provenance: with Leicester Galleries, London (according to the inscribed labels attached to the reverse of the stretcher); H. S. Tasker; private collection Exhibited: Leicester Galleries, London, 'New Year Exhibition', 1943 (according to the inscribed label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Literature: Burlington Magazine, March 1943, vol.80 no.480 (according to Laughton); Bruce Laughton, 'Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942', Oxford, 1971, no.462, p.149 Note: Steer visited and painted at Bridgnorth in Shropshire numerous times in his career, in 1901, 1911 and 1925. Works depicting the landscape there are now in public collections including 'Bridgnorth, Shropshire, Edge of a Wood' (Museum of Gloucester) and 'Distant View of Bridgnorth, Shropshire, 1925' (Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead). The work demonstrates Steer's complete mastery of impressionism and the examples of the great masters, Turner, Whistler and Monet, in his depiction of the transitory effects of mist and light on water.
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - Harwich Estuary with Shipping, 1913; oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left 'P W Steer 1913', 66.5 x 91.5 cm Provenance: Sir Gervase Beckett; Mrs. Bathurst Norman; with Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, no.28942, 1968 (label attached to the reverse of the frame); The Collection of Professor W. M. Ballantyne (1922-2021) and thence by descent Exhibited: The Fine Art Society, London, 'A Barrister's Collection: A Lifetime of Collecting by Professor W. M. Ballantyne', 5th-21st March 2014, cat. no.48, illus. no.8 Literature: Bruce Laughton, 'Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942', Oxford, 1971, no.492 Note: Steer painted a number of works at Harwich in 1913, including 'Misty Evening, Harwich, 1913' now in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery and 'Sunset, Harwich Harbour, 1913' which was features in the major touring exhibition 'Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942: Paintings and Drawings' organised by the Arts Council in 1986. In the catalogue for the Arts Council show, these works are defined by the 'constant traffic of fishing vessels...and the changing moods of the vast, open sky'. As such, these works demonstrate Steer's complete mastery of impressionism and the examples of the great masters, Turner, Whistler and Monet, in his depiction of the transitory effects of light on water.
Philip Wilson Steer OM (1860-1942) Dover signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1918' l.l., watercolour 21 x 31.5cm Condition Report: Framed: 45 x 54.5cm Time staining. The colours appear to be a little muted, please refer to illustration. Well presented and ready to hang. Not viewed out of glazed frame.
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - The Rape of the Sabines, 1896; oil on canvas, signed lower left 'P.W. Steer', 71 x 91.5 cm (VAT charged on the hammer) Provenance: Goupil Gallery, London; Sir Cyril Butler, K.B.E., purchased from the above in 1924; Lady Kendall Butler; Lord Molson; Christie's, Modern & Traditional Pictures, 7th November 1991, lot 14, The Property of the Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd; Lord Nicholas Gordon-Lennox; Richard Salmon Ltd., London; private collection Exhibited: Goupil Gallery, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer', March-April 1924; Tate Gallery, London, 'Works by Philip Wilson Steer', 19th April–21st July 1929; Tentoonstellony, Amsterdam, 'British Art', 1936, no.166 (according to the partial label attached to the reverse); Barbizon House, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer', 1937; National Gallery, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer Memorial Exhibition', 17th May–7th August 1943, no.86; Victoria and Albert Museum, London, C.E.M.A. Exhibition; Leicester Galleries, London; Temple Newsum, Leeds, 'Philip Wilson Steer', 29th March-14th May 1944; Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 'Philip Wilson Steer, 19??', no.31 (according to the label attached to the reverse) Literature: Burlington Magazine, London, 1943; D.S. MacColl, 'Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer', London, 1945, pp. 107, 197 Note: in this period of the artist's career, he experimented with the Old Master painting method of a monochrome base with the subject matter and glazing colour over top. This ambitious and complex composition is a rare example of this technique. This legendary Roman story has been depicted by artists for centuries, particularly in the Renaissance and throughout, including Nicolas Poussin, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacques-Louis David, Edgar Degas and Pablo Picasso.
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942) STRAND-ON-THE-GREEN Oil on panelStamped with initials (lower left)20.5 x 27cm (8 x 10½ in.)Painted in 1893.Provenance:Sale, Christie's, The Artist's Studio Sale, 16-17 July, 1942, lot 192J.S. Wright, Esq., Private Collection J. Leger & Son, London (1958) The Maas Gallery, LondonHazlitt, Gooden & Fox, LondonThe Hon. Mrs. E.A. Wallace, Private Collection Sale, Christie's, London, 8 November 1990, lot 19Agnew's, LondonFrom a Private Collection (purchased from the above in June 1992) Exhibited: London, Goupil Gallery, Catalogue of a Collection of Paintings by P. Wilson Steer, February, 1894, no. 9 Leeds, Leeds City Art Gallery, Philip Wilson Steer O.M 1860-1942, Leeds, 29 March - 14 May 1944, no. 16Literature:D.S. MacColl, Life Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer, London, 1945, p. 194Bruce Laughton, Philip Wilson Steer 1860-1942, Oxford, 1971, p. 134, no. 134Leeds City Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, Philip Wilson Steer O.M 1860-1942, Leeds, 29 March - 14 May 1944, p. 7, no. 16
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - Miss Montgomery, c.1907-08; oil on canvas, 67.1 x 50.8 cm Provenance: J. Leger & Son., 1942 (according to the label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Major E. O. Kay (according to the label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Sotheby's, London, Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 21st May 1986, lot 95; with Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath; private collection and thence by descent Exhibited: City Art Gallery, Leeds, 'Wilson Steer Memorial Exhibition', March-May 1944; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 'Modern Pictures from Major E. O. Kay's Collection', February 1953 Literature: D.S. MacColl, 'Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer', London, 1945, p.214 Note: this sensational portrait is a brilliant example of Wilson Steer's work from the early 20th century and is one of a number of sensual images made of women in a blue dress in an interior. Like 'Girl in a Blue Dress, c.1891' now in the Tate collection, the dress is painted in a highly impressionist manner, the artist evoking the feel and movement of the fabric. Other examples are 'The Blue Dress, c.1910' (National Galleries of Scotland) and 'The Blue Dress, 1982' (The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) which shares the confrontational gaze of the sitter of this work. Here, however, Steer creates a sense of emotional ambiguity from his sitter, through his expressive brushwork and less rigorous, academic approach of his earlier portraits. In a description of a similar work 'The Blue Dress, 1911', Jane Munro has described this as a new form in his work, 'the sitter treated dispassionately, as a foil to the strong effects of light and shade, and her strength of character conveyed solely by means of the expressive quality of the paint.’ A previous owner of the work, Major E. O. Kay (Edwin Ody Kay 1885–1969) was an important patron of Modern British art, appearing in portraits including 'Major E. O. Kay' by Stanley Spencer (Ferens Art Gallery) and 'Major E. O. Kay (aka Portrait of a Man Wearing a Monocle), c.1935' by William Roberts. His collection also included works by Walter Sickert, George Clausen, Augustus John, Tristram Hillier and Paul Nash.
Attributed to Philip Wilson Steer (1860-1942), a portrait study of a seated gentleman, pencil, 9" x 7" (23 x 18cm), believed to be purchased from the artist's studio.
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH, 1860-1942) Cottages Among Trees signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1924' (lower left) watercolour 20.9 x 31 cm. (8 1/4 x 12 1/4 in.)
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH, 1860-1942) Framlingham Meadows signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1928' (lower right) watercolour 23.5 x 33.5 cm. (9 1/4 x 13 1/8 in.)
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH, 1860-1942) The Return of the Fishing Fleet signed and dated 'P. W. Steer 1920' (lower right) watercolour 23 x 33 cm. (9 1/8 x 13 in.)
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860-1942)THE CASINO, BOULOGNE-SUR-MER Oil on canvas Signed and dated 92 (lower right) 51 x 61cm (20 x 24 in.)Provenance:Private Collection, Thomas Humphry Ward Esq.(1845-1926), Art critic for the Times NewspaperPrivate Collection, Mrs. Sandwith Private Collection, Adrian McConnel Thence by descent Exhibited:London, The Goupil Gallery, Exhibition of Paintings by P. Wilson Steer, February 1894, no. 1, as 'property of T Humphrey Ward Esq.' Literature:'Our London Correspondence', Glasgow Herald, 26 February 1894, p. 7'From Private Correspondence', The Scotsman, 26 February 1894, p. 7'From our London Correspondent', Manchester Courier, 26 February 1894, p. 5 'Exhibitions', Pall Mall Gazette, 27 February 1894, p. 3'Exhibition Review, A Modern Painter', The National Observer, 3 March 1894, p. 396G[eorge] M[oore], 'Mr Steer's Exhibition', The Speaker, 3 March 1894, p. 250'Art: The Goupil Gallery', Weekly Dispatch, 4 March 1894, p. 6'Studio and Gallery', Black and White, 10 March 1894, p. 294'Fine Art: The Goupil', The Morning Post, 10 March 1894, p. 2George Moore, Modern Painting, 1898 (Walter Scott), p. 242DS MacColl, Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer, 1945 (Faber & Faber), pp. 51, 193Bruce Laughton, Philip Wilson Steer, 1971 (Clarendon Press, Oxford), p.130, (no 52)Sketches for the present work are included in Steer's sketchbook inscribed Boulogne and dated 1888. The sketchbook is held in the V&A archives under reference E 281 - 1943. Had you been standing on the upper deck of the Folkestone steamer, steering into the harbour at Boulogne-sur-Mer at the turn of the twentieth century, your view on the port side, beyond the guard rail of the jetée de l'est, would take in the plage, and the Second Empire Casino. Sitting in public gardens that contained a saltwater bathing establishment, the lines of the casino prepared you for those of the great exhibition 'palaces' of Paris, a train ride away. A quick scan of your Baedeker would tell you that the casino opened every year for the summer season from 15 June to 15 October and a day ticket would cost you two francs. Since the lights are on in Philip Wilson Steer's view of the building, we can assume that the present canvas must represent a late summer evening. Although dated '92' we know that the painter spent the summer at Cowes in that year. He would have passed through Boulogne in 1887, 1888 and 1889, producing swift sketchbook notes, three of which relate directly to the present work (fig 1). Why, in the 1880s was Boulogne and its environs so admired, and why did it supplant Walberswick in Steer's affections The answers are various - Dannes, Étaples, Montreuil and one or two other picturesque towns nearby were supporting small colonies of British and American painters, many of whom were working in loosely Impressionist styles, while further down the coast there were the familiar haunts of Monet and Boudin. Boulogne was also one of the main points of access to Paris in the late nineteenth century, its packet-boat service having commenced in 1849. In Steer's case the specific interest in Boulogne is likely to have come first from the early work of Manet that he saw in the artist's posthumous retrospective exhibition in Paris in 1884. 'When the Manet exhibition was held', he told John Rothenstein, 'I had never heard his name. But I went and was very much interested ...The landscapes I liked very much ...' Manet had of course visited Boulogne several times in the 1860s and on one occasion on the plage, had painted the twin piers that form the harbour entrance. Fashionable promenades, these breakwaters with their white handrails had not changed when Steer painted them twenty years later.Passing through the port in the late 1880s, and again in 1891, Steer must have realized that he needed to go no further for one of the most celebrated British Impressionist paintings, Boulogne Sands. Having already painted this beach, looking north to where the hillside rolls gently towards the shore in Boulogne Sands: Children Shrimping, the Casino waterfront was a key location.There is sufficient technical variation between the Tate and Ferens canvases to leave the precise date of most works ascribed to the artist's Boulogne corpus prior to 1891, open to debate. While he was known to be capable of working in several different styles at once, the dabs and dashes of a painting of girls busily building sandcastles on a blustery day, contrast with the serenity of the present townscape - a work that takes the eye beyond the casino to the rising land of the haute ville, and the tower of the Cathédral Notre Dame. At this moment when the noisy children have gone and the casino slowly becomes incandescent, the town sinks into the crepuscular light of evening. Bruce Laughton, Steer's 1960s champion, had not seen the present painting when writing his monograph, and accepted DS MacColl's earlier assessment of it. Recalling the painting in the 1940s and thinking of the celebrated 'nocturnes' of the 1870s, MacColl had reached for the word 'Whistlerian'. It now seems most likely that the artist post-dated Casino, Boulogne '92' at the time it left his studio and when it was recalled for his solo exhibition in 1894, it had passed into the collection of Thomas Humphry Ward (1845-1926), the principal art critic and occasional leader writer on the staff of The Times. Ward apparently 'disliked that it should be known' that he was the painting's owner. George Moore was keen to make something of the fact and in praising the painting he also exposed its purchaser to a wider readership: I like ... The Casino, Boulogne, the property, I note with some interest, of Mr T Humphry Ward, art critic of The Times ... Mr Humphry Ward must write conventional commonplace, otherwise he could not remain art critic of The Times, so it is pleasant to find that he is withal an excellent judge of a picture ... The buildings stand high up, they are piled up in the picture, and a beautiful blue envelopes sky, sea, and land. Nos 1 [the present picture] and 2 show Mr Steer at his best: that beautiful blue, that beautiful mauve, is the optimism of painting, is the peculiar characteristic of Mr Steer's work. Other critics concurred, referring to its 'perfect technique' and the 'decorative charm' of its colour. Painted 'freely and flowingly', the peacefulness of this evening on the French coast was conveyed with splendid spontaneity. It had, more than the overtly 'Impressionist' studies of 1891, a 'unity of vision' that Steer considered one of the essential 'laws' of good painting. He insisted, echoing Whistler, that scenes like that of the casino, may be 'commonplace and ordinary' to the layperson, but it was for the painter to find beauty in them. As one pulled into the harbour of an evening, this called for the subtle palette of warm greys and ochres of a hillside and buildings that surround the ghostly gaming house, framed between the hints of mauve in a peaceful sky and the cool cerulean blues of a rippling tide. Kenneth McConkey
Philip Wilson Steer OM, British 1860-1942 - Miss Montgomery, c.1907-08; oil on canvas, 67.1 x 50.8 cm Provenance: J. Leger & Son., 1942 (according to the label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Major E. O. Kay (according to the label attached to the reverse of the stretcher); Sotheby's, London, Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculptures, 21st May 1986, lot 95; with Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath; private collection and thence by descent Exhibited: City Art Gallery, Leeds, 'Wilson Steer Memorial Exhibition', March-May 1944; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 'Modern Pictures from Major E. O. Kay's Collection', February 1953 Literature: D.S. MacColl, 'Life, Work and Setting of Philip Wilson Steer', London, 1945, p.214 Note: this sensational portrait is a brilliant example of Wilson Steer's work from the early 20th century and is one of a number of sensual images made of women in a blue dress in an interior. Like 'Girl in a Blue Dress, c.1891' now in the Tate collection, the dress is painted in a highly impressionist manner, the artist evoking the feel and movement of the fabric. Other examples are 'The Blue Dress, c.1910' (National Galleries of Scotland) and 'The Blue Dress, 1982' (The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge) which shares the confrontational gaze of the sitter of this work. Here, however, Steer creates a sense of emotional ambiguity from his sitter, through his expressive brushwork and less rigorous, academic approach of his earlier portraits. In a description of a similar work 'The Blue Dress, 1911', Jane Munro has described this as a new form in his work, 'the sitter treated dispassionately, as a foil to the strong effects of light and shade, and her strength of character conveyed solely by means of the expressive quality of the paint.’ A previous owner of the work, Major E. O. Kay (Edwin Ody Kay 1885–1969) was an important patron of Modern British art, appearing in portraits including 'Major E. O. Kay' by Stanley Spencer (Ferens Art Gallery) and 'Major E. O. Kay (aka Portrait of a Man Wearing a Monocle), c.1935' by William Roberts. His collection also included works by Walter Sickert, George Clausen, Augustus John, Tristram Hillier and Paul Nash.
PHILIP WILSON STEER (BRITISH 1860 - 1942)INDUSTRY GREENHITHEWatercolourSigned and dated '1832' (lower left)22.5 x 31.5cm (8¾ x 12¼ in.)Please note measurements do not include the frame unless otherwise stated.
