For sale – ‘Hauling the Boat Ashore’ (1871)

August 2, 2022
‘Hauling the boat ashore – coast of France’ by Eyre Crowe (1871)

Your chance to buy an oil painting by Eyre Crowe!

Hauling the boat ashore – coast of France‘, a stunning painting completed in 1871, is to be sold at auction by Atkins Auctions at Axminster, Devon, on Friday 5 August. It appears always to have been in private hands and to my knowledge, never exhibited. Showing a group of women believed to be in traditional Breton costume, pulling a wooden boat out of the water, it is one of a number of paintings by Eyre Crowe inspired by his regular trips to northern France.


Mystery location – Boulogne or Rouen?

June 29, 2022
‘Boulogne Fishmarket’ (1886) by Eyre Crowe A.R.A

The current owner of this vibrant watercolour painting has recently been kind enough to share the image and the details of its provenance with me. ‘Boulogne Fishmarket‘ was known to me only from a scant line in a Royal Academy exhibition catalogue. In 1922 it was part of an ‘Exhibition of Works by Recently Deceased Members of the Royal Academy’ (Eyre Crowe had in fact died in 1910) and was owned by a Reginald Gurney Esq. It was purchased from a Norwich art dealer in 1938 and has remained in the family ever since.

A busy fish market in a French town is depicted, with all the detail, action and humour to be expected of an Eyre Crowe image. He was a prolific sketcher and at least some of the people were probably drawn from life and would have been recognisable to their community.

Curiously, although the watercolour is clearly signed and dated ‘E. Crowe 1886’, the details of the scene correspond exactly with the review description of ‘Fish Market, Rouen‘, an oil painting exhibited at the Royal Academy two years earlier, in 1884. The watercolour seems to be a later copy of the oil painting.

The watercolour does not bear a title itself, so it seems likely that it was mis-interpreted as showing Boulogne sometime between 1884 and its exhibition in 1922. Is it really Rouen? Are there any experts on late-19th century northern France who could settle the question?


‘Forfeits’ for sale, estimate $12,000-$18,000

October 4, 2019

'Forfeits' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1880)

‘Forfeits’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1880)

Eyre Crowe’s 1880 genre work, Forfeits, is for sale at Christie’s in New York on 28 October 2019. The higher estimate, compared to other recent sales of Crowe’s work, probably reflects the charm, colour and quality of the scene. Ornate, wealthy interiors are rarely seen in Crowe’s paintings, although the arrangement of the figures in a line across the picture is a familiar technique.


Brothers of the Brush (1873)

December 20, 2018

Engraving of 'Brothers of the Brush' (1873) by Eyre Crowe

This print based on Eyre Crowe’s 1873 Royal Academy painting Brothers of the Brush (1873) by Eyre Crowe was recently kindly shared with me by a private owner. This remarkably modern-looking composition was praised by contemporary critics, but the current whereabouts of the original painting is sadly not known.


Sales and purchases in the last few years

April 20, 2018

I have been slow in updating this site recently, so here is an overview of what has been occurring in the world of Eyre Crowe’s artworks:

I was alerted to the publication in The Daily Graphic of a brief letter from Eyre Crowe and a sketch of steeplejacks repairing the steeple of Bromsgrove parish church. The item is listed under the title After The Great Gale: Repairing a Steeple (1891).

Steeple Repair 19 Nov 1891

‘After the Great Gale: Repairing a Steeple’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1891)

Dr Johnson receiving Boswell in the Library (1899) has been purchased by a delighted private collector in Vancouver, Canada.

Landscape with stream and figures: The Lovers (1880) was auctioned in Texas in 2016 under the title ‘Courting’.

The owner of The meeting of Louis XI and Edward IV on the Bridge of Pecquigny (1855) has been kind enough to supply with a photograph of this fantastic painting, which is one of Eyre Crowe’s earliest large works.

The meeting of Louis XI and Edward IV at Pecquery

‘The Meeting of Louis IX and Edward IV on the Bridge of Pecquigny’ by Eyre Crowe (1855)

Finally, three separate sets of sketches attributed to Eyre Crowe have come up for sale through various auction houses:

  • Three Figure Studies (19 April 1901 and n.d.). Medium: charcoal and pencil heightened with white. Size: largest 47 x 22 cm. Offered by Bellmans Auctioneers and Valuers, Billingshurst, West Sussex, 5 March 2018 (Lot 1071)
  • Eight sketches by Eyre Crowe, from the collection of Judith Adelman. Medium: pen and ink, pencil and wash. Size: various, largest 17 x 13 inches. Advertised in Weekly Internet Rare Books and Autographs Auctions #201537 by Heritage Auctions, 3-10 Sep 2015 (lot 92359)
  • Fifteen Figure Studies in Two Frames (various dates). Medium: pen, ink and washes. Size: smallest 10 x 3 cm, largest 17 x 27 cm. Attributed to Eyre Crowe and offered for sale by Cuttlestone’s auctioneers, Penkridge, Fine Art and Antiques Sale, 23-24 Nov 2017 (Lot 61). However, the style of the sketches is not exactly reminiscent of Eyre Crowe’s work, and none are signed by him (as was his usual practise), so I doubt the attribution.

Thank you to all the owners who have contacted me about Eyre Crowe pictures – it is always fascinating to hear about paintings and sketches in private hands.


Rare opportunity to buy an original Eyre Crowe oil painting

February 27, 2018

'Drawing Lots For The Guelph Succession' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1896), image from Cuttlestones Auctioneers online sale catalogue, 2018

‘Drawing Lots For The Guelph Succession’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1896), image from Cuttlestones Auctioneers online sale catalogue, 2018

‘Drawing Lots For The Guelph Succession at Celle’ (1896) will appear in an auction of Fine Arts and Antiques at Penkridge Auction Rooms on 8 March 2018. It is being sold by Cuttlestones Auctioneers at the reserve price of £2,400.

The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1896, and in the autumn of the same year was shown at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. It was presumably sold around the same time, and disappeared into private hands until the death of its owner in 2014. By autumn 2016 it was owned by art dealer Brian Saunders, of Saunders Fine Art, who displayed it at the LAPADA and Olympia art shows.

Eyre Crowe returned in old age to the kind of historical scenes that had made his name in the 1860s, and liked to feel that he had done his research and presented historically accurate details. He visited Celle in the late summer of 1895 and undoubtedly sketched some of the details of the room there.

The online sale catalogue for the painting includes some further images, including close-ups of Crowe’s signature and the information on the gilt frame.

 

 

 


Eyre Crowe picture up for sale again

March 1, 2016

'Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

‘Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

After failing to sell late last year, Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library (1899) is being offered at auction again on 16 March 2016. See details on the-saleroom.com if you are interested!


Landscape with Stream and Figures – the Lovers (1880)

December 31, 2015

Landscape with stream and figures - The Lovers (1880.)

Landscape with stream and figures – The Lovers (1880)

This oil painting on canvas has recently come to light after being in private ownership for at least 50 years. The previous owner was a world traveller and the estate contained many fine pieces – Meissen, Lalique, etc. along with other original art work.

It is a large picture – 38 x 48 inches, untitled, but signed and dated 1880. From its subject matter and size, is quite likely to be ‘Landscape with stream and figures – The Lovers’, which was sold at auction by Messrs Furber at 77 Chancery Lane, London, on 22 February 1911. This auction was a sale of Eyre Crowe’s remaining works after his death. Many of the pictures were sold for just a few shillings, indicating that most were sketches in pen or oil. However, ‘The Lovers’ sold for £1, indicating that the picture was relatively finished.

The canvas that Crowe used was bought in France – this fits with what is known of Crowe’s usual purchases of artist’s supplies.

The family of the owner are looking to sell this painting – please contact me if you are interested and I can pass your details on.


Previously unknown Eyre Crowe pictures come up for auction

December 31, 2015

'Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

‘Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1899)

Quite a few Eyre Crowe works have come up for sale in 2015, and were formerly unknown to me. Doctor Johnson Receiving Boswell in the Library (1899) is an interesting piece, harking back to Crowe’s heyday in the 1850s and 1860s when his pictures depicting moments from literary history were popular. It is reminiscent of A Scene at the Mitre; Dr Johnson, Boswell, Goldsmith (1857). Crowe’s other major picture commemorating Dr Johnson, The Penance of Dr Johnson (1869), can be seen on display at Dr Johnson’s House Museum in London.

'A Trouville' by Eyre Crowe (n.d.)

‘A Trouville’ by Eyre Crowe (n.d.)

The delightful ‘A Trouville’ is an undated watercolour sketch of the scene on the beach in this Normandy town. Crowe usually travelled to France every summer, evidenced by a crop of pictures set in France. School at the Aitre, St Maclou, Rouen (1883), Fish Market, Rouen (1884), and A Honeymoon in Normandy, Lisieux (1885), are fully worked oil paintings inspired by Crowe’s summer holidays.

'The New Recruit' by Eyre Crowe (n.d.)

‘The New Recruit’ by Eyre Crowe (n.d.)

The New Recruit’ is an interesting narrative picture, apparently set in the present day of, presumably, the 1860s or 1870s. The background seems to show a grim industrial landscape, like that depicted in Crowe’s famous The Dinner Hour, Wigan (1874). Its small size (21.3 x 26.9 inches – 54 x 68.2 cm) suggests that it may have been destined for the Dudley Gallery’s annual exhibition of ‘cabinet’ paintings in oil. The auctioneer in 2015 described the picture as only ‘attributed’ to Eyre Crowe, but the style is very distinctly his. The frieze of different characters across the foreground of the picture is a device often used by Crowe.

One other picture also came up for sale in 2015: ‘Woman Knitting’ (sold as ‘Strickende Bauerin’), a pencil and watercolour sketch measuring 21.7 x 16.9 inches (55 x 43 cm). It has the date 1909 – the last known work by Eyre Crowe.


#Waterloo200. Eyre Crowe, Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo

June 6, 2015

With the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo coming up on 18 June, it came to my mind how many Napoleonic scenes Eyre Crowe produced during his long career. Curiously, for an artist who exhibited at the Royal Academy in London, Crowe never painted anything from the point of view of the British army fighting in the Napoleonic Wars – but perhaps this is not so strange when we consider that Crowe grew up in Paris and maintained connections with his French friends and half-siblings throughout his life.

His earliest paintings with a Napoleonic theme were shown as a pair at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1879 – Marat: 13th July, 1793, and Execution of the Duc d’Enghien, 1804.

Hougoumont, the day after the battle (1886) by Eyre Crowe A.R.A.

Hougoumont, June 1815, the day after the battle (1886) by Eyre Crowe A.R.A.

Seven years later, ‘Hougoumont‘ garnered some critical acclaim. Depicting a group of defeated French soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo, Crowe’s original caption describes the scene: ‘Leaving Hougoumont, my attention was called to a group of wounded Frenchmen by the calm, dignified and soldier-like oration addressed by one of them to the rest. The speaker was sitting on the ground with his lance stuck upright beside him – a veteran lancer of the old guard, who had no doubt fought on many a field’.

In 1891, a simple genre scene of a woman helping her son to write a letter was given a historical theme. Entitled Writing a Message to St Helena, it showed the Empress Marie-Louise – Napoleon’s second wife – and their son the Roi de Rome – writing to Napoleon in exile on the island of St Helena.

Another Napoleonic painting, exhibited in 1895, was quirkier. Le Petit Chapeau: The Hat Worn by the Emperor Napoleon at Waterloo, was a still-life of a large hat owned by Crowe’s good friend, the French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme.

'Napoleon's Abdication' by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1902)

‘Napoleon’s Abdication’ by Eyre Crowe A.R.A. (1902). Reproduction from Royal Academy Pictures, 1902, p. 134

Crowe’s final Napoleonic offering was Napoleon’s Abdication (1902). Crowe’s artistic powers were in heavy decline by this point in his long life. It is hard to disagree with the opinion of the critic in The Builder, who described it as ‘… about the worst Napoleon picture ever painted’. Crowe even had the assistance of H.A. Bowler, the Royal Academy’s Professor of Perspective, in tackling the tricky octagonal ceiling, but clearly failed in making it convincing. Nevertheless, someone paid £14 for it in the auction of Crowe’s possessions after his death. This is one of the many Crowe paintings whose present ownership is unknown. Despite its artistic failings, it would be good to know if it is still hanging, cherished, on someone’s wall.