Algernon Cecil Newton, Land - and City-Scape Painter

Algernon Cecil Newton (1880-1968) had an unusual art pedigree, as this mentions: "Newton was born in Hampstead in 1880, a grandson of Henry Newton, one of the founders of the Winsor & Newton the art materials company."

His style was remarkably consistent over most of his career. And his subject matter was limited. Newton tended to paint sparse urban scenes that included a good deal of countryside-like vegetation along with water features such as canals.

His style was simplified, either due to a slight acknowledgement of fashionable 1920s and 30s Modernism or perhaps a throwback to 18th century art.

Gallery

The Beck - c.1900
An early, pure landscape.

In Kensington - 1920-23
Buy now, he has settled into his mature style. The composition's stark, simple areas reminds me of what de Chirico was doing at about the same time, but with different settings and artistic intent.

The Backs of Houses, Harley Street, London - 1925
A purely urban scene.

The Regent's Canal, Twilight - 1925

The Regent's Park Canal, Paddington - 1930

Townscape - 1934

Minster Court, York - 1945

Canal Scene, Maida Vale - 1947
Newton was known as a painter of canals.

Jan Sluijters, Dutch Modernist

Johannes Carolus Bernardus (Jan) Sluijters (1881-1957) was a Dutch painter who delved into various Modernist styles, yet never abandoned representation or practiced abstraction (as best I can tell regarding the latter). A brief Wikipedia entry is here, but from there you can link to a longer one in Dutch.

Due to his apparent continual experimentation, there seems to be little in the way of a distinctive Sluijters style.

Gallery

Spaanse danseres - 1906
A Spanish dancer.

Cafe de nuit (Bal Tabarin) - 1906
He spent some time in Paris.

Boslaantje - c.1909
Fauvist influence here.

Greet with a Bicycle
Post-impressionist background.

The Artist's Wife (Greet) - c.1910

Vrouwenportret in rood - 1912
Portrait of a lady in red.

Staphorst - 1915
Expressionist townscape.

Gertrud Leistikow Dancing - c.1920

Zelfportret op 22-jarige leeftijd
Self-portrait, age 22.  His earliest works tended to be in traditional style.

Zelfportret - 1924
Apparently the effect of 20 years' hard work in his studio.

Charlotte Erika Frankfurter-Brandt - 1936
This verges on pure representation, though there is a whiff of 1930s modernist simplification.

Moonlight-Night View on Montreux with the Chateau de Chilloin - 1954
A late work, still somewhat Modernist.

Victor Hume Moody: Some Dramatic Portraits

Victor Hume Moody (1896-1990) lived a long life that in his working years was dominated by the Modernism that he didn't practice.

He is obscure enough that at the time I drafted this post, he had no Wikipedia entry. The main background information I found is here. Additionally, it seems he abandoned painting from about 1919 to 1926. He painted using laborious, classical methods for the remainder of his career.

Moody exhibited a dramatic flair in many of his works, though not always. Below are examples of each. Since some images are undated, I can't order the paintings chronologically.

Gallery

Miss Willoughby
A striking portrait.

Girl with a Cittern - Portrait of Catherine Moody,
His daughter.

Self Portrait
Perhaps painted about the same time as the image below,

The Artist’s Wife, May Olive Moody - 1926-27

Portrait of a Lady
A softer, less-dramatic portrait.

Portrait sketch of woman

The Day War Broke Out, Mom - 1939

Presentation of Colours to the 1st Battalion Worcestershire Regiment - 1960
This for a commemorative commission. No drama, but appropriate for that genre.

Molti Ritratti: Jeanne d'Arc

Now for some portraits of an important historical personage that were all painted posthumously. The subject is Jeanne d'Arc (c.1412-1431), called Joan of Arc in English-speaking countries. Her Wikipedia entry is here.

According to this site, there exists only one contemporary image. It is a "Drawing by Clément de Fauquembergue, the secretary of the Pa[r]lement of Paris. The artist had never seen Jeanne. It is known that she sat for a portrait, but it did not survive, so no exact image of her exists."

That contemporary image is here:

Below are some imagined portraits of her.

Gallery

Miniature - 1450-1500
Her hair style seems to be derived from the previous image.

Anonymous - 1581
This seems fanciful, yet not showing her for what she was famous for.

Atelier Rubens - 1620
From the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens.

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres - 1854
By a major artist. He too seems to use the hair style in the first image.

John Everett Millais - 1865
By an important English artist.

Jules Bastien-Lepage - Joan of Arc Listening to the Voices - 1879
The well-known Bastien-Lepage painting.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti - 1882
For some reason nearly every Rossetti portrait of a young woman shows similar features.

George William Joy - 1895
Ste Jeanne asleep.

Harold Piffard - c.1895

Donato Giancola - 2012
A recent painting by an American illustrator.

Meredith Frampton, Sculptural Borderline Modernist

George Vernon Meredith Frampton (1894-1984) eventually gave up painting due to failing eyesight. His peak years artistically were the 1920s and 1930s and his style was smoothly-painted, very slightly simplified subject matter -- mostly portraits. That simplification was a fashionable feature of Modernism as practiced during those decades. Some background on Frampton is here.

If forced to characterize his images, I might state that the subjects appear sculptural. But after all, his father was Sir George Frampton, a noted sculptor.

Gallery

Winifred Radford - 1921
She was a professional singer.

Winifred Radford photo
Compare this with the image above so as to see the amount of Frampton's simplification.

Marguerite Kelsey - 1928

King George VI as Duke of York - 1929
Note his rank is Captain in the Royal Navy. As King, he would have admiral's stripes on his sleeves.

Lord William Cecil, Bishop of Exeter - 1934

Portrait of a Young Woman - 1935
Perhaps Frampton's best-known painting.

A Game of Patience - 1937

Frederick Gowland Hopkins - 1938

Sir Ernest Gowers, KCB, KBE, Senior Regional Commissioner for London, Lt Col AJ Child, OBE, MC, Director of Operations and Intelligence, and KAL Parker Deputy Chief Administrative Officer in the London Regional Civil Defence Control Room - 1943
In the collection of the Imperial War Museum.

More Giacomo Favretto

Giacomo Favretto (1849-1887) was a Venetian painter who showed great promise, but whose career was cut short. I wrote about him here and here.

That was more than five years ago, so I think it's time to present more of his work.

Gallery

Balcone del Palazzo Ducale
This scene is set in the 18th century, to judge by the costumes. During the late 19th century there seemed to be nostalgia for the previous century, and a number of artists painted such scenes. Favretto needed to earn a living, so he too cranked out some paintings of that kind.

A Venice canal scene
I don't have a formal title for this.

Girl at the Window - 1880
Here he used flatter brushwork that usual. Note the fashionable (in those days) Japanese art in the background.

Il traghetto della Maddalena - 1887
This was in the first post linked above, but I adjusted the color to what I think is more like it should be. It is one of his last paintings, perhaps hinting how he might have developed had he lived.

In piazzetta - 1884
Another scene with 18th century costumes. It seems Venice had pigeons back then, though not so many as now on the Piazza San Marco.

Mercato del sabato un campo San Polo - 1883
Saturday market scene.

Un incontro - 1880
An 18th century meeting on the Rialto bridge.

Liston odierno - 1887
This was also shown in the first link above. Fravretto had not finished it at the time of his death.

Liston odierno - detail
Favretto tended to contrast faces and other key details with sketchily painted backgrounds.