|
Strange Bedfellows! |
| As a collector and dealer
in St Ives art, I am always aware that the paintings hanging on my
walls at any given time have a unique bond. Many of the artist's
worked in the same period and circle, some were friends, some
otherwise, but the striking thing is that they are "united"
- albeit for a short time - and combine to provide a unique
aesthetic. |
| I took the photo below as
I prepared to give the portrait a light clean prior to sale. It then
struck me that three people were united in a surreal sense,
together in a time and place that none of them might have imagined
during their respective lifetimes! |
 |
| Alfred Wallis is
the dominant character in this case, as his works grace all four
walls in the room. On the easel sits a portrait of Thomas Uren,
farmer and Mayor of St Ives in 1916, the year that William Banks
Fortescue executed the painting. |
| All three men would
undoubtedly have known, or been aware of eachother. Wallis
would have known Uren, and Fortescue, who was one of
the leading artists of the day in St Ives (and Newlyn) was one of
the "proper drawers" that Wallis often referred
to. |
| A Wallis painting would
never have graced the same wall as the Fortescue painting during
their lifetimes, but how things change! In today's market the "academic"
portrait, whilst a super painting, comes a distant second to Wallis.
|
| One can only
wonder what Wallis, Fortescue and Uren would have made of that! |
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