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Lot 64

10 July 2013, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £68,450 inc. premium

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John Atkinson Grimshaw (British, 1836-1893)

Forge Valley, Hackness, near Scarborough
signed and dated 'Atkinson Grimshaw 1879+' (lower left), also signed and inscribed 'Forge Valley./Hackness. Nr. Scarboro/Atkinson Grimshaw 1879+' on the reverse
oil on board
20.5 x 35cm (8 1/16 x 13 3/4in).

Footnotes

PROVENANCE:
with J S Maas & Co Ltd, London
Private collection, UK

During the 1870s, Grimshaw produced a number of paintings of Scarborough and the surrounding countryside, including a number of compositions of the Forge Valley in Hackness1. Alexander Robertson notes, in reference to an 1875 painting depicting Forge Valley: 'In contrast to life 'at home', Grimshaw transformed one of his most popular subjects, that of a lane with a lonely figure, into an evening scene with a farmer returning from the fields...one of Grimshaw's most successful creations, of which there are several versions.'2

Depicting the picturesque Yorkshire landscape in a series of rich autumnal tones, Grimshaw captures the quiet of country life, romanticising rural living. The fine observation of the cart tracks on the road and the dramatic shadows cast by the trees, drawing your eye down the country lane, reveals the mastery of Grimshaw's skill. Robertson concludes, 'Such a simple scene does embody the artist's recurrent theme of toil, but instead of dwelling on this, the subject is subsumed into an overall poetic mood.'3

1 See for example Christie's, London, November 15 2007, lot 29, Christie's London, November 04 1999, lot 154, and Sotheby's, London, December 13 2005, lot 5.
2 Alexander Robertson, Atkinson Grimshaw, Oxford, 1988, p.70
3 Ibid, p.71

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