Fox Fine Art has dated this Victorian Child Oil Painting to the 1880s.
The painting bears an indistinct signature reading " F**Morgan," which may relate to Fred Morgan. Morgan was known to sign his works in a variety of ways, often depending on the importance or scale of the painting. One consistent feature, however, was his use of a distinctive reddish-brown pigment for the signature, similar in colour to that found on this work.
As I am unable to provide provenance or documentary evidence to support a firm attribution, I am offering the painting as Circle of Fred Morgan, rather than definitively by the artist.
“Frederick Morgan ROI was an English painter of portraits, animals, domestic and country scenes. He became known for his idyllic genre scenes of childhood. Morgan was born in London to John Morgan and his wife, Henrietta Hester Clare. His father was a successful genre artist sometimes known as 'Jury Morgan' (after one of his paintings The Gentlemen of the Jury). At the age of 14, he was taken out of school by his father who then tutored him in art. At the age of 16, while still studying with his father, his first picture, The Rehearsal, was exhibited at the Royal Academy, and, after a hiatus of several years, his paintings were shown there regularly. For a while he worked as a portrait artist for an Aylesbury photographer; this training proved to be crucial as it "taught him how to observe closely and to give the greatest attention to detail."
Eventually he turned to other subjects for his art, in particular idyllic genre scenes of country life and childhood. For many years, starting in 1874, Thomas Agnew & Sons' purchased all the work he produced. Although an excellent portrait artist, Morgan had problems in depicting pets and barnyard animals - he enlisted the aid of either Arthur John Elsley or Allen Sealey (1850–1927) when such problems needed resolving. He is known mostly for his romantic and sentimental paintings of children in the same style as his contemporary Arthur John Elsley. His paintings achieved great popularity in his lifetime and were widely published. He exhibited with the Royal Academy and was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI).”
Credit Wikipedia
Condition The canvas has been relined and recently restored. Elegantly framed.
Size 44cm x 34cm (56cm x 46cm framed)
17.3 x 13.3 inches (22 x 18 inches framed)
Fox Fine Art has dated this Victorian Child Oil Painting to the 1880s.
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Circle of Fred Morgan (1847-1927) C1880 Oil Painting
