105
Walter Frederick Osborne RHA ROI (1859-1903)
Estimate:
€8,000 - €12,000
Passed
Live Auction
Irish & International Art Auction
Size
10.75 by 14.50in. (27.3 by 36.8cm)
Description
Title: ZAANDAM, 1901
Note: Walter Osborne's period of study in Antwerp, 1881-1883, had a formative influence upon him, and he was drawn back to the Low Countries on several occasions. For example, he re-visited Antwerp in May 1894, and possibly went on to Amsterdam that year. He painted at Zaandam in 1895, and travelled in The Netherlands with his friend Walter Armstrong, Director of The National Gallery of Ireland in 1896. During these trips Osborne painted a small number of oils and watercolours. (1)Zaandam was a picturesque village in the Zaanstad region, just north of Amsterdam. In the 17th century it had been an important centre for ship-building, and in the 19th century it became a popular tourist area. Artists were attracted to Zaandam's brightly coloured houses, windmills, canals and ships with masts, the most famous painter being French Impressionist Claude Monet in the 1870's.In Zaandam Osborne is drawn, interestingly, not to the brightly-painted village on a sunny day, but to the stunning countryside with its windmills under overcast, rainy skies. Scudding, rain-filled clouds fill the sky, a stream which reflects the clouds, winds towards the horizon, and low buildings, windmills, and perhaps the masts of boats, are scattered across the flat landscape. The clouds are vigorously represented, while the moor in the foreground is rapidly painted in a glowing viridian green, evoking affinities with the subdued, atmospheric landscapes of Dutch artists of The Hague School. (2) Osborne enjoys a sturdy rough-weave canvas in his painting. Julian CampbellFebruary 2020Footnotes:1. See Jeanne Sheehy, Walter Osborne, Ballycotton, 1974 and Walter Osborne, National Gallery of Ireland, 1983. An inspiration on the edge of the present canvas 'Walter Osborne Zaandam May 1901' suggests that he may also have visited the village at this later date.2. Compare eg. Allotments near The Hague by Jacob Maris (Gemeentemuseum, The Hague).
Note: Walter Osborne's period of study in Antwerp, 1881-1883, had a formative influence upon him, and he was drawn back to the Low Countries on several occasions. For example, he re-visited Antwerp in May 1894, and possibly went on to Amsterdam that year. He painted at Zaandam in 1895, and travelled in The Netherlands with his friend Walter Armstrong, Director of The National Gallery of Ireland in 1896. During these trips Osborne painted a small number of oils and watercolours. (1)Zaandam was a picturesque village in the Zaanstad region, just north of Amsterdam. In the 17th century it had been an important centre for ship-building, and in the 19th century it became a popular tourist area. Artists were attracted to Zaandam's brightly coloured houses, windmills, canals and ships with masts, the most famous painter being French Impressionist Claude Monet in the 1870's.In Zaandam Osborne is drawn, interestingly, not to the brightly-painted village on a sunny day, but to the stunning countryside with its windmills under overcast, rainy skies. Scudding, rain-filled clouds fill the sky, a stream which reflects the clouds, winds towards the horizon, and low buildings, windmills, and perhaps the masts of boats, are scattered across the flat landscape. The clouds are vigorously represented, while the moor in the foreground is rapidly painted in a glowing viridian green, evoking affinities with the subdued, atmospheric landscapes of Dutch artists of The Hague School. (2) Osborne enjoys a sturdy rough-weave canvas in his painting. Julian CampbellFebruary 2020Footnotes:1. See Jeanne Sheehy, Walter Osborne, Ballycotton, 1974 and Walter Osborne, National Gallery of Ireland, 1983. An inspiration on the edge of the present canvas 'Walter Osborne Zaandam May 1901' suggests that he may also have visited the village at this later date.2. Compare eg. Allotments near The Hague by Jacob Maris (Gemeentemuseum, The Hague).
Medium
oil on canvas
Signature
signed, inscribed and dated [May] indistinctly on reverse
Provenance
With Milmo-Penny Fine Art, Dublin 1991;Private collection;Sotheby's, 11 May 2006, lot 34;Private collection
Exhibited
'Exhibition of Irish Art', Milmo-Penny Fine Art, Dublin June 1991, catalogue no.14
