19th Century Drawings / Watercolour Paintings by James Smetham - Marine Sketches

Marine sketches: Pencil and watercolour on white and buff wove papers. Backing paper: Blue Ingres, laid. Presented in a clear archival acid-free polyester sleeve.

Top: 2 1/2 x 3 1/16 in. (6.4 x 7.7 cm.)

Middle: 1 9/16 x 4 3/4 in. (3.9 x 12.1 cm.)

Bottom left: 1 1/2 x 1 3/8 in. (3.9 x 3.6 cm.)

Backing paper: 10 5/8 x 8 5/16 in. (27 x 21 cm.)

Included in the sale is a transcript of a letter written in 1878 by the artist’s daughter to her mother, a small passage in the letter mentions a scrap album from where these drawings originated.

Provenance: These drawings were removed from a scrap album which had been compiled by Smetham's daughter Edie and her siblings. Throughout his life Smetham suffered from bouts of mental illness but it was in the fall of 1877 that he succumbed to a debilitating attack, he became delusional and virtually ceased talking. Almost a year had passed since his attack when the album was gifted to him by his children. After a decade of emotional and psychological anguish, he died on February 5, 1889. The album was inscribed on the frontispiece; Scraps from Sketch Books – Jas. Smetham.

We are currently holding a sale of our collection, the prices range from as little as £28 to £185. You can view them from the menu bar on our home page - @ Radnorshire Fine Arts - James Smetham “SALE”

James Smetham (1821-1889) produced over four hundred paintings during his lifetime. Like his good friend Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who was a major influence on his art, Smetham was a poet as well as a painter. He also wrote criticisms and recorded fascinating details on many celebrated personages of his day. His paintings ranged from portraits to Biblical interpretations, arcadian vignettes and landscapes. Smetham had great hopes and complicated theories about how audiences would understand and buy his art, but he was sadly disappointed with critical response. However, he received praise from some eminent contemporaries like John Ruskin, George Frederick Watts and Dante Gabriel Rossetti who hailed his friends’ paintings as “the flower of modern art”.

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