Benjamin Evans Ward

Royal Academy, 1896, no. 998

STRUCTURE The canvas has been relined. There are faint signs of craquelure across the surface. There is a surface abrasion left of the left-hand flower basket and there appear to be two or three other surface abrasions in isolated places across the work; otherwise it appears in good overall condition. ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT Under UV light there appear to be a few small areas of retouching to the building in the background upper left. There are some areas of retouching to the figures, these include: the two figures on the left; the dress of the girl sitting left of the central figure; the white skirt of the central figure; to the white skirt of the woman crouched near the right edge and the clothes of the standing figure by the right edge. There is an area of retouching in the lower right corner and a few further areas through the foreground. FRAME Held in a large gilt plaster frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Ward's colourful evocation of Piccadilly flower girls provides an important record of an area that had recently undergone much change. Piccadilly has always been an important locality, but took its present shape in the 1890s, when Shaftesbury Avenue was built and the area reconstituted. The old London Pavilion was demolished and replaced by a new one at the Avenue's triangular apex. Sir Alfred Gilbert's winged god known as Eros (it actually depicts the Angel of Christian Charity) a memorial to Lord Shaftesbury, was unveiled in 1893 and the low wall that initially surrounded the aluminium monument was removed in 1895.  In Ward's scene we view the fountain from the Piccadilly side and the colonnade visible to the left belongs to the Pavilion's southern façade, running along Coventry Street and towards Leicester Square. Ward's flower girls are able to sit on the steps, and adventurous children peer into the fountain's upper-storey. On windy days it was said that the water would spray out so vigorously that the flower-sellers required umbrellas. Flower girls were an indigenous part of London life, disseminating out from Covent Garden - site of 'five hundred flower stalls' - where blooms could be purchased at wholesale prices. 'Button-holes' were a popular device - one is being secured to a bystander's lapel in Ward's composition. A contemporary witness records that 'buttonhole flowers...are generally sold for a shilling or eighteen pence - a rather extravagant charge for an ornament that can only last a few hours'.(John Thomson, Victorian Street Life in Historic Photographs, 1877,  1994, p. 66) In summer flowers were shipped in from outside London, in winter from as far afield as Nice. 

London Flower Girls is intriguing as a historical record, picturing the hustle and bustle of Circus life at the turn of the century. We can see a horse-drawn omnibus issuing from Shaftesbury Avenue, with characteristic advertising hoardings, for example. Since 1850 these had been allowed to carry passengers on an upper deck - the so-called 'knife board'. It is likely that Ward's beautiful wife Ada, who had been his favourite model, sat for the principle figure and other figures in the picture.

We do not know the reason for Ward's transatlantic relocation to South Oil City, Pennsylvania, but he seems to have flourished there in every capacity. His work became more experimental, working on enamel, for example, he created an art-nouveau effect by rendering miniature portraits on iridescent enamel ground. He also painted large scale, contributing a pair of landscape murals measuring approximately 5 x 10 feet to the Franklin Court House, Pennsylvania. A local newspaper article reported on the 'works of art...from the brush of B.E. Ward, well-known artist of this city, who was commissioned by Judge George S. Criswell and the County Commissioners to carry out the scheme'. Ward's portrait practice evidently continued apace; a particularly striking image of Dr Salisbury, a Cleveland dentist, hangs in the collection of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Depictions of his family bear witness to the fact Ward had a son, Redvers, who is portrayed both as a baby in his mother's arms and as a young man in military uniform. There was possibly a daughter too, Elizabeth, as family archives contain a miniature of a baby named as such, though it is undated. Ward continued teaching in the States; a wonderful portrait of the artist with palette in hand, by 'his pupil Mrs Smithman', represents a man who was no less sympathetic than he was distinguished.

We are grateful to the artist's granddaughter, Mrs Elena W. Weldon, for her assistance with this catalogue entry.