Tennants Auctioneers are delighted to be offering for sale two important oil paintings by the artist Thomas Sidney Cooper R.A. (1803-1902) in their Spring Catalogue Sale on 10-11 April 2008.
The first is entitled “A Goat Herd on Moel Shiabod, North Wales”, and depicts a young boy and his dog seated upon a hillside, with goats and sheep nearby and a lake and mountains beyond. It is signed and dated “1848” and measures an impressive 121cm by 198cm. With a sale estimate of £60,000-£80,000, this painting is expected to create a great deal of interest.
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1848, no.423, it has the following provenance: With Richard Green Fine Paintings, 44 Dover Street, London W1X 4JQ, stock no. J789; also with Haynes Fine Paintings, 69 High Street, Broadway, Worcestershire WR12 7DP, stock no. 3905.
The second painting, also by Thomas Sidney Cooper R.A., is of Sheep Grazing in a Summer Coastal Landscape, possibly a Kent coast. It is signed and measures a more modest 76cm by 106cm in size. It is estimated to sell for £20,000-£30,000 at the auction.
Allan Darwell, Head of the Picture Department of Tennants says “These paintings are highly prized by collectors, particularly when they are from this period. The brushwork and glazing the artist used at the height of his powers (1833-1865) are truly remarkable. He often collaborated with other Royal Academicians, but the figure of the boy in this work is probably Cooper himself.”
Encouraged as a young man by Abraham Cooper (no relative) and Sir Thomas Lawrence the famous English portrait painter, Thomas Sidney Cooper entered the Royal Academy School and in 1827 became a teacher himself in Brussels. He was also a friend of Belgian animal painter Eugene Verboeckhoven, who greatly influenced his style, as did the Dutch School of the 17th century. In 1831 he settled in London and first exhibited at Suffolk Street in 1833. He also exhibited 48 pictures at the British Institute between 1833 and 1863. He often worked with Frederick Richard Lee R.A. (1798-1879) and numerous other Royal Academicians. He showed 266 pictures at the Royal Academy until 1902 without a break – a record for continuous exhibiting at the Academy. Sheep and cattle where his constant subjects but in 1846 he attempted a large historical painting “The Defeat of Kellermann’s Cuirassiers at Waterloo”. This and “A Hunting Scene” (Royal Academy 1890) were his only figurative studies. Between 1848 and 1856 he painted the cattle in numerous landscapes by F.R Lee and also the animals in the landscapes by Thomas Creswick. After about 1870 his commissions were so constant and lucrative that he was tempted to yield to facile repetition of his favourite themes but the quality and competence of his style only began to decline in the 1890’s. His studio sale was held at Christies and lasted three days between 12th and 15th April 1902.
Entries are being invited for Tennants Summer Catalogue Sale to be held on 17-18 July 2008. For more information please contact Allan Darwell, Head of the Picture Department at Tennants on +44(0)1969 623780
www.tennants.co.uk
