Charles Henry Passey

Victorian Harvest Landscape - British art pastoral countryside oil painting

Circa 1880

This superb Victorian Scottish landscape oil painting is by noted landscape artist John MacWhirter. Painted circa 1880 the location is Glen Cloy, Arran, a very popular walking and holidaying destination along with the Fairy Glen. The composition is a stream in the foreground with a man and his dog approaching. Either side of them are rolling hills giving way to cloud enveloped mountains in the background. The palette of greens and brown of the flora and fauna is so rich and varied. An excellent example of Scottish Victorian art and of MacWhirter's work. Signed lower right. Provenance. Sotheby's 26.8.86 lot 694. Condition. Oil on canvas, 38 inches by 24 inches unframed, in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt swept frame, 50 inches by 37 inches in good condition. John MacWhirter RA (27 March 1839 in Slateford, Edinburgh - 28 January 1911 in London) was a Scottish landscape painter. John was the third of four children. One of his elder sisters, Agnes MacWhirter was also a noted artist of still lifes. He attended a school in Colinton, and after his father's death was apprenticed to Oliver & Boyd, booksellers in Edinburgh. He stayed there for only a few months and then in 1851 enrolled at the Trustees Academy under Robert Scott Lauder and John Ballantyne (1815–97). He spent long periods sketching and studying nature outdoors. His first painting to be exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy at age 14, was 'Old Cottage at Braid'. In 1880, he was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Academy. Exploring and painting abroad he visited Italy, Sicily, Switzerland, Austria, Turkey, Norway and the U.S.A. - the Alps being a great inspiration. Of a drawing of wildflowers, Ruskin wrote i have never seen anything like it. Some of these sketches were later purchased by Ruskin and bequeathed to the Ashmolean, Oxford. He moved to London in 1867 and on 4 May 1893 was elected a Royal Academician. MacWhirter specialised in romantic landscapes with a great fondness for trees, spending much time in the hilly countryside of Perthshire. Initially, under the influence of John Everett Millais, he experimented with the detailed images of the Pre-Raphaelites, but later adopted a more sweeping style. His friendship with William McTaggart shows in his freedom of brush. With John Pettie...

This absolutely lovely British Victorian oil painting is by noted Birmingham born artist James John Hill and has some excellent provenance below. The painting actually stayed in Birmingham for many years, hanging in Heathfield Hall, the former residence of inventor and engineer James Watt, but owned at that time by Thomas Pemberton. It then moved to Berwick House in Shropshire. Entitled The Gleaner and painted in1863, it is a charming half length portrait of a young woman with a sheaf of wheat under her arm. She is stood beneath trees and the wheat field is beyond. She is dressed in a lovely pink garment and wearing a brown felt hat, to shade her face from the sun, her dark hair cascading down her shoulder, The hat is decorated with a poppy. The soft tones and sympathetic rendering of the young woman make this a stunning 19th century oil painting with excellent provenance. The painting is housed in its original gilt frame with a beautiful oak leaf motif. Signed and dated 1863 lower left. Provenance. Thomas Pemberton, Heathfield Hall, Handsworth, Birmingham. (Heathfield Hall was the former residence of the inventor and engineer James Watt. Following his death the house had several occupiers including local luminaries Thomas Pemberton and George Tangye). His sale, Christie's, 30 April 1874, lot 95 (69gns to James Watson) Berwick House, Shropshire. (James Watson (1817-1895) was an English merchant, dairy herdsman and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892) Condition. Oil on canvas, 34 inches by 28 inches unframed, in good condition. Frame. Housed in its original gilt frame with oak leaf motif, 42 inches by 36 inches and in good condition. James John Hill RBA (1811 – 27 January 1882), known also by his alias J. J. Hill, was an English landscape and portrait painter, known for his many rustic paintings and portraits of Lady Burdett-Coutts. James John Hill was born sometime in 1811 in Broad Street, Birmingham to Daniel Hill, plater, and Elizabeth Rowlinson, the daughter of a brass founder. He was educated at Hazelwood School, a school founded by the educational reformer Rowland Hill...

This superb very large British Victorian landscape oil painting is by much sought after landscape artist John Brandon Smith. Painted circa 1870 the composition is a rocky Scottish Hi...

This charming Dutch Romantic Golden Age picturesque winter landscape oil painting is by Everardus Benedictus Gregorius Pagano Mirani. It was painted in 1848 and is signed and dated lower right. The composition is a lovely bright snow scene of a frozen river and wide track beside it. Figures are skating and playing on the ice while others drag various goods through the snow. Some stunning trees line the path and the whole image is bathed in winter sunlight. A really lovely large picture postcard Dutch winter landscape oil painting which harks back to the Dutch Golden Age and was so popular with the Dutch. The brushwork and detail are superb and this is a lovely example of Mirani's work who was one of the finest Romantic landscape painters of his day. Signed and dated 1848. Provenance. Midlands estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, image size is 44 inches by 35 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a fine gilt gallery frame, framed size is 51 inches by 42 inches and in good condition. Everardus Benedictus Gregorius Pagano Mirani (1810 - 1881). Mirani grew up in the Golden Age of Dutch painting, dominated by the Romantic landscape genre. This movement founded by Barend Cornelis Koekkoek...