Edmund Blair Leighton

Christie's London, 16 June 1909, lot 78, sold for £420;
With Rapps Konsthandel, Stockholm by 1953;
from whom purchased by the father of the present owner,
thence by descent

London, Royal Academy, 1891, no. 558

Royal Academy Pictures, 1891, repr. p. 25

STRUCTURE The canvas has been relined and is stable. CATALOGUE COMPARISON The illustration is broadly representative but the colours to the woman's face and dress are a little more subtle in reality. PAINT SURFACE The paint surface is in good,clean condition with an even varnish. There are traces of a craquelure pattern in the sky and to the steps in the lower right corner. There is one small fleck of paint loss off the lower edge in the centre (visible in the catalogue illustration). ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals spots of retouching to the figures faces. This has been sensitively executed. the reats of the painting is in good, original condition with no further signs of restoration or retouching. FRAME Held in a plaster gilt frame in fair condition.
"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."

In one of Blair-Leighton's obituary notices written shortly after his death in 1923, Lay thy Sweet Hand in Mine and Trust in Me was said to be among the artist's best-known works. The popularity of the picture was largely due to the publication of a fine quality print of the painting following it's exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1891. The tender sentiment of the painting appealed to a Victorian public for whom such pictures evoked the romance of an earlier time that was seen as a Golden Age of romance. The setting is at the moorings of a grand English country house where a Regency family group are preparing to take to the waters for a pleasure ride. The squire's young daughter is being helped into the vessel by her admirer and the roses that are blooming along the balustrade and at the wooden bower, emphasise his amorous regard. The title of the picture was taken from a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
 
Edmund Blair Leighton was born in London on the 21st of September 1853, the only son of Charles Blair Leighton and Catherine Boosey and no relation to Frederick Leighton, the painter. Charles Blair Leighton was a painter destined for greatness as a portrait painter, tutored by the famous Benjamin Haydon, along with Landseer and Eastlake. At the time of Edmund's birth, the Blair Leightons lived at Red Lion Square, the former residence of Rossetti and Deverell, and four years later William Morris moved into the square. In this environment Edmund would have been raised surrounded by artists and men of position and undoubtedly would have trained in his own father's studio. Unfortunately, the early death of his father, aged thirty-two, prevented this. Edmund was placed in a private boarding school in St. John's Wood and later went to the University College School. He was encouraged to put all hope of becoming an artist firmly behind him and look towards a mercantile career. Although he worked during the day in the City, in the evenings he attended classes at the South Kensington School of Art and at Heatherley's School of Painting where many artists founded their reputations. At the age of twenty-one Edmund Blair Leighton left his office job and launched himself into the art world with great resolve and self-belief and in 1874 he was accepted as a Student at the Royal Academy Schools where he excelled. His first exhibit at the Royal Academy was entitled A Flaw in the Title of 1878 (Royal Holloway College) and he continued to exhibit paintings with literary titles, usually with a highly romantic charge. His work can be divided in two, those pictures depicting Eighteenth Century trysts and those with a more dramatic subject of medieval heroines and heroes, from the Morte d'Arthur and Shakespeare. Most memorable among the medieval subjects are Abelard and Heloise, Elaine, How Lisa Loved the King, Lady Godiva, A King and a Beggar Maid, Dedication and Tristram and Isolde. The two qualities which can always be found in his work are beautifully meticulous studied detail and a sensitive capturing of humanity. As Blair Leighton's biographer Alfred Yonckney wrote, 'Romance, poetry, and the drama of humanity appealed to him strongly from the beginning. He saw a world composed of vital situations awaiting interpretation, and it became his desire to give expression to those emotions which are among the privileges of life at its ripest moments.' (The Art of E Blair Leighton, by Alfred Yockney, in The Christmas Art Annual 1913, p. 13)