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Lot Essay
'The exciting discovery of an oil version of Lavery's well-known watercolour A Rally (1885, Glasgow Museum and Art Gallery) raises the possibility that the painter may have been wishing to produce a larger exhibition-piece version of the subject. The present picture differs from the Glasgow version only in minor details - the angle of the parasol, the height of the fence in the background, the number of tennis balls lying on the court and the pale colours of the men's jackets. The Glasgow version is also almost square in format (64 x 62 cm.) and gives the impression that the perspective is less steep than that of the oil.
Both works are central to a group of tennis pictures produced in 1885, the most important of which is The Tennis Party (Aberdeen Art Gallery). Shown at the Royal Academy in 1886, this depicts the newly fashionable game of lawn tennis as practiced by the wealthy middle class members of the Paisley wool manufacturing elite. The scene takes place at Cartbank, Cathcart near Paisley, where a court had been established. Alix MacBride, one of the models, later recorded that it represented 'no special occasion, but was just a composition in which at odd times my sister, a cousin and I posed for the principal figures' (unpublished ms. dated 18 December 1943, quoted in K. McConkey, Sir John Lavery, Edinburgh, 1993, p. 44). Although she refers to The Tennis Party, Miss MacBride was undoubtedly aware of the other works in the sequence, some of which she may have thought of as supporting sketches and studies. It is clear however, that the model who posed for the principal player in the Aberdeen canvas is likely to be the same woman as that in Played!!, A Rally, Beg Sir! (unlocated, McConkey, op. cit., pl. 38), and The Tennis Match (McConkey, op. cit., pl. 43). In the last of these she wears the same straw hat with a broad black band and pink flower as the figure in Played!!.
Much is made of Lavery's interest in the spatial theatre of The Tennis Party and A Rally. Given a predetermined space, a court which is clearly marked, the painter had the opportunity to move his figures around at will and whilst the sequence was in progress, Lavery was not lost for advice from other Glasgow Boys such as Arthur Melville, James Guthrie and Edward Arthur Walton, all of whom visited him at Cartbank. It is also obvious that the dynamic movement of the figure greatly appealed to the painter, and this too has an important raison d'etre. Whilst a student in Paris, Lavery records that he met Jules Bastien-Lepage, the mentor of his entire generation, on one memorable occasion, crossing the Pont des Arts. Bastien advised his young admirer to 'Always carry a sketchbook. Select a person - watch him - then put down as much as you can remember. Never look twice. At first you will remember very little, but continue and you will soon get complete action' (quoted in McConkey, op. cit., p. 43-4). It has been suggested that this sequence of tennis pictures was the result of that willingness to engage with figures in dramatic poses. Alternatively we may cite Lavery's continuing interest in photography, which may have informed his approach to the series.
However, the freedom of handling, seen only in Played!!, may be a further attempt to convey the momentary action as Miss MacBride lunges forward to return her opponent's ball. The spontaneous broad brushstrokes which convey the foliage and figures in the background complement the dramatic sense of movement than the more carefully finished detail of A Rally. It is this freshness which clearly delineates Played!! from A Rally. Few of Lavery's canvases up to this point can match its brio'.
(Kenneth McConkey, private correspondence, March 2000).
We are very grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for his assistance in the preparing this and following catalogue entries for lots 51-63.
Both works are central to a group of tennis pictures produced in 1885, the most important of which is The Tennis Party (Aberdeen Art Gallery). Shown at the Royal Academy in 1886, this depicts the newly fashionable game of lawn tennis as practiced by the wealthy middle class members of the Paisley wool manufacturing elite. The scene takes place at Cartbank, Cathcart near Paisley, where a court had been established. Alix MacBride, one of the models, later recorded that it represented 'no special occasion, but was just a composition in which at odd times my sister, a cousin and I posed for the principal figures' (unpublished ms. dated 18 December 1943, quoted in K. McConkey, Sir John Lavery, Edinburgh, 1993, p. 44). Although she refers to The Tennis Party, Miss MacBride was undoubtedly aware of the other works in the sequence, some of which she may have thought of as supporting sketches and studies. It is clear however, that the model who posed for the principal player in the Aberdeen canvas is likely to be the same woman as that in Played!!, A Rally, Beg Sir! (unlocated, McConkey, op. cit., pl. 38), and The Tennis Match (McConkey, op. cit., pl. 43). In the last of these she wears the same straw hat with a broad black band and pink flower as the figure in Played!!.
Much is made of Lavery's interest in the spatial theatre of The Tennis Party and A Rally. Given a predetermined space, a court which is clearly marked, the painter had the opportunity to move his figures around at will and whilst the sequence was in progress, Lavery was not lost for advice from other Glasgow Boys such as Arthur Melville, James Guthrie and Edward Arthur Walton, all of whom visited him at Cartbank. It is also obvious that the dynamic movement of the figure greatly appealed to the painter, and this too has an important raison d'etre. Whilst a student in Paris, Lavery records that he met Jules Bastien-Lepage, the mentor of his entire generation, on one memorable occasion, crossing the Pont des Arts. Bastien advised his young admirer to 'Always carry a sketchbook. Select a person - watch him - then put down as much as you can remember. Never look twice. At first you will remember very little, but continue and you will soon get complete action' (quoted in McConkey, op. cit., p. 43-4). It has been suggested that this sequence of tennis pictures was the result of that willingness to engage with figures in dramatic poses. Alternatively we may cite Lavery's continuing interest in photography, which may have informed his approach to the series.
However, the freedom of handling, seen only in Played!!, may be a further attempt to convey the momentary action as Miss MacBride lunges forward to return her opponent's ball. The spontaneous broad brushstrokes which convey the foliage and figures in the background complement the dramatic sense of movement than the more carefully finished detail of A Rally. It is this freshness which clearly delineates Played!! from A Rally. Few of Lavery's canvases up to this point can match its brio'.
(Kenneth McConkey, private correspondence, March 2000).
We are very grateful to Professor Kenneth McConkey for his assistance in the preparing this and following catalogue entries for lots 51-63.