Crantock: the Village Green
Henry Wallis (1804 - 1890)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1870 (dated)
Materials
Pen and ink on paper
Measurements
90 x 120 mm
Order this imageCollection
Wightwick Manor, West Midlands
NT 1288012
Summary
Pen and ink drawing on a postcard, Crantock: the Village Green by Henry Wallis (1804-1890), inscribed "Crantock" and dated "6 : 10: 70" and inscribed on the reverse:"From Henry Wallis/To F.G. Stephens Esqre/10, The Terrace/Hammersmith/London W". A landscape view of Crantock villge green, in Cornwall, with church, lych gate and village inn, ducks in foreground. An attractive ink sketch made more interesting both by its unusual form and its recipient - Stephens was one of the original Pre-Raphaelite Brothers, but abandoned painting for art criticism; from 1861 to 1901 he was art critic of the Athenaeum. The view is of the village inn, lychgate and church of St. Carantoc at Crantock in Cornwall. Wallis trained at F.S. Cary's Academy before entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1848; he also studied in Paris. He was on the fringes of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and seems to have been closest to Arthur Hughes. His best-known Pre-Raphaelite works are (The Death of) Chatterton (1855-6; Tate Gallery) and The Stonebreaker (1857; City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). He specialised in historical and genre scenes such as these, with other titles including Andrew Marvell Returning the Bribe He first exhibited in 1853 in Manchester, at the Royal Academy 1854-1877, and at the Society of British Artists and the Old Watercolour Society (later the Royal Watercolour Society) of which he became an Associate in 1878 and a Member in 1880. In later years he travelled and painted in Italy, Sicily and Egypt, and became an authority on Italian, Persian and Egyptian ceramics.
Provenance
Lady Mander's private collection; brought to Wightwick from her London flat in 1989
Marks and inscriptions
Verso: From Henry Wallis' To;'FG Stephens Esq,10 The Terrace, H'smith.London.W
Makers and roles
Henry Wallis (1804 - 1890), artist