Fabulous oil on canvas still life by one of the great flower painters Alfred Frederick William Hayward (1856-1939). The work shows pink and white hollyhocks which as the quintessential cottage garden flowers are in a simple stoneware jug. The painting of the flowers is exquisite and they jump off the canvas in contrast to the dark background. The painting is in good condition, it does look to have been cleaned in recent years, there is some craquelure to the paint in the background. The work is fully signed to the lower left: A.F.W.Hayward.Alfred Frederick William Hayward (1856-1939) was a master of flower painting, working in realism but very much influenced by the great Impressionist French still life painters of the period. He was born in Ontario, Canada but moved to England in 1875 to study and broaden his artistic education. He exhibited widely and profusely over his career but mainly at the Royal Academy with 66 works and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters where he showed an...