- 86
John Crome 1768-1821
bidding is closed
Description
- John Crome
- Yarmouth Beach, looking north - morning
- Oil on canvas
Provenance
Philip Barnes, 1821;
Wynn Ellis (1790-1875) of 30 Cadogan Place and Ponsborne Park, Hertfordshire by 1866, sold by his executors, Christie's, 6th May 1876, lot 46, bt. Cox for 95 gns.;
Charles Roundell by 1892 by whom sold Christie's, 10th June 1899, lot 58, bt. Agnew for 280 gns.on behalf of Sir Charles Tennant, Bt., (1823-1906);
By descent to Marguerite Tennant, his widow, who married Major Geoffrey Lubbock and who died in 1943;
Nancy Tennant (1904-1969), her daughter, who married Thomas Dugdale, 1st Baron Crathorne
Wynn Ellis (1790-1875) of 30 Cadogan Place and Ponsborne Park, Hertfordshire by 1866, sold by his executors, Christie's, 6th May 1876, lot 46, bt. Cox for 95 gns.;
Charles Roundell by 1892 by whom sold Christie's, 10th June 1899, lot 58, bt. Agnew for 280 gns.on behalf of Sir Charles Tennant, Bt., (1823-1906);
By descent to Marguerite Tennant, his widow, who married Major Geoffrey Lubbock and who died in 1943;
Nancy Tennant (1904-1969), her daughter, who married Thomas Dugdale, 1st Baron Crathorne
Exhibited
Norwich Society, 1819;
Norwich, Crome Memorial, 1821, no. 57;
British Institution, 1866, no. 161;
Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1892, no. 39;
Norwich, Crome Centenary, 1921, no. 40;
Royal Academy, British Exhibition, 1934, no. 602;
Agnew's, British Pictures, 1937, no. 64;
Agnew's, Cotman and Crome, 1958, no. 20;
Whitworth, Manchester, The Norwich of the Norwich School, 1961, no. 12;
Jacksonville, Nashville and New Orleans, Landscapes of the Norwich School, 1966-67, no. 12;
The Arts Council, Norwich Castle Museum and Tate Gallery, John Crome, 1968, no. 8
Norwich, Crome Memorial, 1821, no. 57;
British Institution, 1866, no. 161;
Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1892, no. 39;
Norwich, Crome Centenary, 1921, no. 40;
Royal Academy, British Exhibition, 1934, no. 602;
Agnew's, British Pictures, 1937, no. 64;
Agnew's, Cotman and Crome, 1958, no. 20;
Whitworth, Manchester, The Norwich of the Norwich School, 1961, no. 12;
Jacksonville, Nashville and New Orleans, Landscapes of the Norwich School, 1966-67, no. 12;
The Arts Council, Norwich Castle Museum and Tate Gallery, John Crome, 1968, no. 8
Literature
Anon, Catalogue of the Pictures forming the collection of Sir CharlesTennant Bart, 1896 (unpaginated);
W.F. Dickes, The Norwich School of Painting, 1905, p. 98;
C.H. Collins Baker, John Crome, 1921, pp. 32, 39, 41, 109, 113, 176-177;
S.C. Kaines Smith, Crome, 1923, p. 132;
D. Sutton, 'The Origin of the Norwich School', Country Life, July 17, 1958, pp. 116-117;
N. Goldberg, 'John Crome and the Norwich Cathedral: An Enigma', The Connoisseur Year Book, 1962, pp. 118-125;
N. Goldberg, 'On John Crome and Connoisseurship', Connoisseur, November 1963, pp. 194-200;
D & T.C. Clifford, John Crome, 1968, p. 50, pp 204-205, pl. 83a;
N. Goldberg, John Crome the Elder, 1978, no. 107, fig. 107, pl. XI, p. 64, 68, p. 224
W.F. Dickes, The Norwich School of Painting, 1905, p. 98;
C.H. Collins Baker, John Crome, 1921, pp. 32, 39, 41, 109, 113, 176-177;
S.C. Kaines Smith, Crome, 1923, p. 132;
D. Sutton, 'The Origin of the Norwich School', Country Life, July 17, 1958, pp. 116-117;
N. Goldberg, 'John Crome and the Norwich Cathedral: An Enigma', The Connoisseur Year Book, 1962, pp. 118-125;
N. Goldberg, 'On John Crome and Connoisseurship', Connoisseur, November 1963, pp. 194-200;
D & T.C. Clifford, John Crome, 1968, p. 50, pp 204-205, pl. 83a;
N. Goldberg, John Crome the Elder, 1978, no. 107, fig. 107, pl. XI, p. 64, 68, p. 224
Catalogue Note
"If we can imagine a brilliant Constable, crossed by van de Velde, we have a fair idea of a mature coast scene by Crome, such as Mrs Lubbock's Yarmouth Beach and Mill. Crome was certainly before Turner in suggesting that rare and invaluable property of great landscape - 'the accidental look of nature'".
These words about the present picture were written by C.H. Collins Baker, author of a pioneering monograph on Crome, who was the first scholar to attempt to date the artist's work with the help of relevant exhibition catalogues. The picture has long been considered to be amongst Crome's finest late masterpieces, worth to be set alongside Constable's views of Yarmouth Beach of 1822.
Crome was fortunate to be brought up in Norwich which was a thriving centre both for commerce and for artistic activity. This prosperity and in particular the commercial links between Norfolk and Holland meant that the young artist had access to private collections from which he gained much inspiration. A particular influence was Thomas Harvey of Catton Hall whom Crome befriended and whose extensive collection included works by Gainsborough and Wilson as well as Dutch artists. He also met and learned from both Beechey and Opie, both of whom lived in the city. However, whilst the low horizons of Crome's depiction of Yarmouth Beach owes something to earlier Dutch painters, the picture is broadly painted with none of their precision and finish and a much closer influence is Constable. There is no evidence that Crome knew Constable and his name does not appear in Constable's correspondence. However, Crome exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1806 and 1818, and at the British Institution between 1818 and 1824, and he must certainly have seen some of Constable's work. Constable himself was later to paint Yarmouth Jetty, a subject which he exhibited at the British Institution in 1823, several years after Crome's death. It is not known when Constable visited Yarmouth and whether he could have seen any of Crome's work whilst in Norfolk.
Most of Crome's subjects were Norfolk scenes, and apart from a trip to Paris in 1814, two trips to the Lake District, and visits to Hampshire and Wales, he did not travel outside his native county to find subject matter for his work. He often travelled to Yarmouth which was only twenty miles from Norwich and was a frequent visitor to the collector and banker Dawson Turner, a native of Yarmouth, and from late 1816 was giving regular drawing lessons to the wife and children of Samuel Paget who lived on a quayside house there.
Yarmouth was a great commercial port in the eighteenth century and in 1702 it was recorded that over two hundred colliers were registered there, all carrying coal from the north. The beach itself runs for about four miles from the north to the south. Crome's picture depicts a view looking north and the mill is probably Pilch's Mill (or Tooley's Mill as it was called before 1842) which was demolished in c. 1855-56. Also clearly visible are bathing machines which past commentators have mistakenly identified as part of a stone pier. Bathing machines such as this were introduced into England in the mid eighteenth century (one of the first was said to have been at Margate in about 1750) and remained popular until the early twentieth century.
The dating of Crome's pictures has never been entirely straightforward but this picture was identified by Francis Hawcroft and Miklos Rajnai in 1968 as the picture which the artist exhibited at the Norwich Society in 1819. This would also correspond with the general opinion that Crome's later works had a brighter tonality, particularly following his trip to Paris in 1814.
The picture belonged to Philip Barnes, friend of Crome and Freeman and Honorary Secretary to the Norwich Society in 1819. It was later owned by Wynn Ellis, a prosperous silk merchant and noted art collector and philanthropist. He bequeathed over four hundred Old Masters to the National Gallery, forty-four of which were selected by the Trustees, and the rest of his collection, including the present work, was sold at Christie's in 1876. Amongst the English pictures were the full scale sketch for Constable's Young Waltonians and Gainsborough's celebrated portrait of Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire. Yarmouth Beach later entered the celebrated collection of Sir Charles Tennant of The Glen, passing on his death first to his widow and then to his youngest daughter Nancy.
These words about the present picture were written by C.H. Collins Baker, author of a pioneering monograph on Crome, who was the first scholar to attempt to date the artist's work with the help of relevant exhibition catalogues. The picture has long been considered to be amongst Crome's finest late masterpieces, worth to be set alongside Constable's views of Yarmouth Beach of 1822.
Crome was fortunate to be brought up in Norwich which was a thriving centre both for commerce and for artistic activity. This prosperity and in particular the commercial links between Norfolk and Holland meant that the young artist had access to private collections from which he gained much inspiration. A particular influence was Thomas Harvey of Catton Hall whom Crome befriended and whose extensive collection included works by Gainsborough and Wilson as well as Dutch artists. He also met and learned from both Beechey and Opie, both of whom lived in the city. However, whilst the low horizons of Crome's depiction of Yarmouth Beach owes something to earlier Dutch painters, the picture is broadly painted with none of their precision and finish and a much closer influence is Constable. There is no evidence that Crome knew Constable and his name does not appear in Constable's correspondence. However, Crome exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1806 and 1818, and at the British Institution between 1818 and 1824, and he must certainly have seen some of Constable's work. Constable himself was later to paint Yarmouth Jetty, a subject which he exhibited at the British Institution in 1823, several years after Crome's death. It is not known when Constable visited Yarmouth and whether he could have seen any of Crome's work whilst in Norfolk.
Most of Crome's subjects were Norfolk scenes, and apart from a trip to Paris in 1814, two trips to the Lake District, and visits to Hampshire and Wales, he did not travel outside his native county to find subject matter for his work. He often travelled to Yarmouth which was only twenty miles from Norwich and was a frequent visitor to the collector and banker Dawson Turner, a native of Yarmouth, and from late 1816 was giving regular drawing lessons to the wife and children of Samuel Paget who lived on a quayside house there.
Yarmouth was a great commercial port in the eighteenth century and in 1702 it was recorded that over two hundred colliers were registered there, all carrying coal from the north. The beach itself runs for about four miles from the north to the south. Crome's picture depicts a view looking north and the mill is probably Pilch's Mill (or Tooley's Mill as it was called before 1842) which was demolished in c. 1855-56. Also clearly visible are bathing machines which past commentators have mistakenly identified as part of a stone pier. Bathing machines such as this were introduced into England in the mid eighteenth century (one of the first was said to have been at Margate in about 1750) and remained popular until the early twentieth century.
The dating of Crome's pictures has never been entirely straightforward but this picture was identified by Francis Hawcroft and Miklos Rajnai in 1968 as the picture which the artist exhibited at the Norwich Society in 1819. This would also correspond with the general opinion that Crome's later works had a brighter tonality, particularly following his trip to Paris in 1814.
The picture belonged to Philip Barnes, friend of Crome and Freeman and Honorary Secretary to the Norwich Society in 1819. It was later owned by Wynn Ellis, a prosperous silk merchant and noted art collector and philanthropist. He bequeathed over four hundred Old Masters to the National Gallery, forty-four of which were selected by the Trustees, and the rest of his collection, including the present work, was sold at Christie's in 1876. Amongst the English pictures were the full scale sketch for Constable's Young Waltonians and Gainsborough's celebrated portrait of Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire. Yarmouth Beach later entered the celebrated collection of Sir Charles Tennant of The Glen, passing on his death first to his widow and then to his youngest daughter Nancy.