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From a distinguished collection of works by Thomas Sidney Cooper, R.A. (Lots 34-41)A forger of Old Masters, a coach painter, a theatrical set painter (forced by the manager to also tread the boards), a drawing master, an artist traveller who sold his sketches to pay for board and meals, a friend of Belgian revolutionaries, a father of four, a self-made Victorian and eventual Royal Academician (who to this day holds the record for exhibiting more works than any other member), Thomas Sidney Cooper was an exceptional artist who led an exceptional life.Friends with, and mentored by, Eugène Verboeckhoven and profoundly influenced by the Dutch Masters, notably Albert Cuyp and Paulus Potter, Cooper was a master of depicting agricultural views, most often featuring cattle or sheep. Highly prolific, he exhibited 266 works at the Royal Academy from 1833-1902, when he was 99 years old. Cooper is one of the most imitated, copied, and faked artist’s in the annals of British art. So prolific were the copyists and forgers of the time that Cooper began to sell his works with autograph drawings to guarantee their authenticity. However, when the artist is at his best – as illustrated by the present lots – Cooper was unmatchable in his chosen subject and stands apart from even from his most able imitators. From spontaneously executed and wonderfully animated studies such as Study of a ram’s head (lot 36), to landscapes that make the viewer feel that they are standing in the heart of the English countryside (lot 35) or trekking through the cold Scottish Highlands (lot 40), the present collection shows Cooper at the height of his powers: a master in his own right, who rightly deserves to be recognised in the present among the masters of the past.
Thomas Sidney Cooper, R.A. (1803-1902) and Frederick Richard Lee, R.A. (1798-1879)
Umberleigh Mill, River Taw, Devon
Details
Thomas Sidney Cooper, R.A. (1803-1902) and Frederick Richard Lee, R.A. (1798-1879)
Umberleigh Mill, River Taw, Devon
signed by both artists and dated 'F.R. Lee/1830/T.S. Cooper' (lower centre) and further signed and inscribed 'Umberleigh Mill/River Tew_Devon/F.R. Lee' (on a label attached to the stretcher)
oil on canvas
27 ¾ x 36 in. (70.5 x 91.5 cm.)
Umberleigh Mill, River Taw, Devon
signed by both artists and dated 'F.R. Lee/1830/T.S. Cooper' (lower centre) and further signed and inscribed 'Umberleigh Mill/River Tew_Devon/F.R. Lee' (on a label attached to the stretcher)
oil on canvas
27 ¾ x 36 in. (70.5 x 91.5 cm.)
Provenance
with William C. Holmes, Birmingham.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 21 January 1966, lot 113 (100 gns to the present owner).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 21 January 1966, lot 113 (100 gns to the present owner).
Literature
S. Sartin, Thomas Sidney Cooper, C.V.A., R.A., 1803-1902, Leigh-on-Sea, 1976, p. 63, no. 88, as 'Amberleigh on the River Taw, Devonshire'.
K.J. Westwood, Thomas Sidney Cooper, C.V.O., R.A., David Leathers Publishing, Somerset, 2011, vol. II, p. 8, no. L/C 1.
K.J. Westwood, Thomas Sidney Cooper, C.V.O., R.A., David Leathers Publishing, Somerset, 2011, vol. II, p. 8, no. L/C 1.
Exhibited
London, British Institution, 1831, no. 237.