 |
|
|
|
|
|
WARD, William & George KEATING after George MORLAND
A Party Angling; The Angler's Repast
London: Published by John Raphael Smith, 28 November 1789. Mezzotints. Image size: 17 1/8 x 21 7/8 inches. Sheet size: 18 3/4 x 23 inches approx.
A pair of the most famous fishing prints after George Morland, the master of English genre painting.
George Morland was one of the most successful genre painters of his time, creating, during his industrious career, some of England's most cherished paintings. At an early age Morland displayed his artistic genius, he learned to paint at three and exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy at the mere age of ten. He was a prodigious painter, producing more than 4000 paintings during the entirety of his career, and sometimes painting two or three works in a day. His beautiful idealistic scenes were a favorite source of inspiration for contemporary engravers, and as many as 250 separate engravings were done of his paintings during his lifetime.
His brother-in-law, William Ward, engraved a great number of his paintings reproducing in print his endearing paintings of English country life. Ward's engravings after Morland are some of the most beautiful prints of the period; they combine fine technical skill and inspired artistic imagination to create enduring images that speak of the taste and beauty of the age.
During the eighteenth century punt fishing became a very fashionable sport, gentlemen and ladies gathered in droves to enjoy this popular outdoor pursuit. Morland was so struck with the charm of this pastime that he quickly rendered it on to canvas, thus creating two of his most cherished paintings. The two fashionable ladies pictured in the paintings are in fact Morland and Ward's wives, while the gentlemen are John Raphael Smith and the engraver himself.
Mellon, British Sporting and Animal Prints p.123; Siltzer p.189.
|
#5268 $4,500.00 
|
© 2002-2005 Donald A. Heald
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
