A fine and atmospheric oil on artist board depicting a monk in thought by the highly regarded artist Henry Reynolds Steer 1858-1928. The quality of the painting is superb particularly the work on the face with a technique that is unusually free and impressionist in manner for this artist. The painting has been professionally cleaned and is in excellent condition. It is signed to the lower left ‘H.R.Steer’ and mounted in a vintage frame that works very well with the subject. Henry Reynolds Steer 1858-1928 studied with Heatherley between 1879-1888 and became a very successful genre and landscape artist. He was at first a lithographer but turned to working in oils and later watercolour. He was a member of both the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. He exhibited widely and prolifically including the Royal Academy and every other major society. His art tends to be very narrative and is often based on literary works such as those by Dicken...