George Henry, R.A., R.S.A., R.S.W. 1858-1943

Probably Glasgow, Royal Institute of Fine Arts, 1910, no. 459

The exact details of this picture’s exhibition history are difficult to ascertain from the list of Henry’s exhibited paintings which often have rather vague titles. The picture’s impressive size makes it highly likely that it was shown in one of the exhibitions at the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts or the Royal Academy in London in the early twentieth century. In the Bluebell Wood may not even be the original title of the painting (there are no labels on the reverse) and if we assume that this title was given to the picture at a later date, it is possible that this picture can be identified with Butterflies exhibited at the Glasgow Institute in 1910. Butterflies was certainly a painting of some importance as it carried the considerable price-tag of £400 at the Glasgow exhibition; most of his other pictures were for sale for sums varying from £20 to £200. The picture is comparable with the large oil Poinsettia (Sotheby’s, Gleneagles, 30 August 2000, lot 1269) which was exhibited in Glasgow in 1905 and sold for £350. Henry was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1906 and for the next few years he painted large pictures to prove that the selection committee had been correct in granting his honour.

In the early twentieth century Henry had moved from Scotland to London and settled within the community of artists in Chelsea, taking a studio at Glebe Place. He was one of the founding members of the Chelsea Arts Club and was remembered as a lively raconteur at the frequent social events held by the club, where he would dress in his kilt of family tartan. The influence of John Abbot McNeill Whistler and was still strong in Chelsea even though he had been dead for several years and the fellow Scotsman was a great admirer. The butterflies in the present work suggest a specific reference to Whistler’s famous butterfly-shaped signature whilst the woman’s Liberty-style gown and auburn hair are perhaps also suggestive of Aesthetic Movement influences. The present work also reflects the influence of Whistler in the harmonic colour harmony and the oriental simplicity of the painting, which had of course had a more direct stimulus from Henry’s trip to Japan with Edward Atkinson Hornel which opened his eyes to a different way of painting. The purposefully flattened perspectives owe much to Henry’s study of Japanese prints whilst the tall format of the painting with the figure occupying much of the space also has a Japanese influence. This masterful simplicity was noted by Percy Bate in his review of Henry’s work in 1904; ‘So far as brushwork is concerned, he believes in directness and simplicity. “No faking” may be said to be one of his mottoes. Spontaneity is to him one of the great things to endeavour to secure; and while he does not himself attempt that slickness and sloppiness of handling that is just now fashionable, his technique is free and vigorous – altogether assured and masterly… Good tone is to be found through all of his work; one never sees a picture by Henry (whether its colour scheme is entirely quiet, or whether it is relieved by jewel-like touches of colour) that is out of tone.’ (Percy Bate, ‘The Work of George Henry, R.S.A.: A Review and an Appreciation’, in Studio, 1904, pp.12) Despite the Japanese influence upon the style of the painting, the painting is given a specifically British subject, of an auburn-haired model standing amid a spring landscape of birch trees, bluebells and fluttering yellow butterflies.   

There is perhaps also an influence in the present picture from the later work of another former resident of Chelsea, Dante Gabriel Rossetti whose paintings of winsome red-haired young women in flowing gowns were a major influence upon many of the next generation of artists. The vertical format of the painting is similar to Pre-Raphaelite decorative art, such as Burne-Jones’ stained-glass window designs or Rossetti’s painted panels for pieces of Arts-and-Crafts furniture in which female figures were often used to fill unusually tall spaces. The narrow confines of the picture give the painting a dramatic elegance and imposing drama which is softened by the wistful subject and refined colouring.