Sir John Lavery, R.A., R.H.A., R.S.A.

The canvas board is sound and is very slightly bowed. The varnish has slightly discoloured and there are some minor scattered spots of staining otherwise in good overall condition. Under ultraviolet light, there are some scattered spots of retouching in the sky and some further fine lines of retouching scattered through the watercolour. Held in a plaster gilt 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."

During the inter-war period, there was a national upsurge in healthy outdoor sporting activities. Tennis, golf and horse-racing became celebrity pastimes, and the results of sporting fixtures were immediately reported in the new broadcasting media of newsreel and the wireless. A painter, in Sir John Lavery's opinion, could not afford to ignore these modern trends and in the twenties, all three became his subject matter. Towards the end of the decade, recognizing that regattas were an established part of the London Season, he turned his attention to river sports. 

Throughout the nineteenth century, the Thames between Twickenham and Oxford had been the focus for recreational pursuits of many kinds. Sporting and social events went hand-in-hand. Following the establishment of Henley Regatta in 1839, when Oxford and Cambridge 'Academicals' competed, annual summer events grew in number, with smaller gatherings at Sunbury, Datchet and Maidenhead. However, in the nineteenth century the notoriety of this stretch of river, close to the Maidenhead road and railway bridges, derived principally from JMW Turner's extraordinary evocation of Rain, Steam and Speed, 1845 (National Gallery, London). However, the effects of industrialization did not reduce the attractions of the river and in 1851, when Prince Albert became its patron, Henley was designated a 'Royal' regatta. Such was the popularity of pleasure boating and rowing events that by the mid-century, all craft had to be registered with the Thames Conservancy Board. However, by 1888, houseboats and spectators' craft were so numerous that the races were disrupted. The event at Maidenhead grew to rival that of Henley in the years preceding the Great War, when one commentator observed that Maidenhead was 'too snobby to be pleasant, the haunt of the river swell and his overdressed female companion, showy hotels and those demons of the river, steam-launches' (Cyllene Moxon, The Day before Yesterday, (1956) quoted in James Laver, Edwardian Promenade, 1958, Edward Hulton, p. 44). As with Ascot race meetings, displays of fashion became as important as the competitions. The lawn at Skindle's Hotel, Maidenhead was the assembly point where everyone came 'to see and be seen' (Ibid, p. 45). During the twenties the parade attracted 'Bright Young Things' in motor-boats, replacing the steam-launches of yesteryear. The area also became famous for 'bottle parties' on Tagg's Island, the subject of an unusual canvas by Alfred Munnings and the home of Fred Karno's notorious Karsino.

Lavery made his first river forays prior to the Great War when commissions from aristocratic families brought him to country houses at Sutton Courtenay, Cliveden and Taplow Court. Major works such as The Thames at Maidenhead 1914 (Private Collection), and The Wharf, Sutton Couteney (Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane) resulted, and the nearby river footpath was painted in 1919 (fig. 1, sold in these rooms, 11 May 1988, lot 22). Having completed a series of canvases depicting race meetings at Hurst Park, Ascot and Epsom, Lavery resolved, by the end of the twenties, to portray the principal regattas at Henley and Maidenhead. 

Small unfinished oils were painted at Remenham in 1929. Progress was protracted due to illnesses which both Lavery and Hazel suffered in 1930 and the task appears not to have been resumed until 1932 when the present preparatory sketch was made for Maidenhead Regatta. The large exhibition piece to which it relates was shown at the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts in 1936 and donated to Glasgow Art Gallery the following year (fig. 2). Although the viewpoints for the present sketch and finished work are the same, Lavery has completely altered the crowd scene in Glasgow version and added a skiff with awning, derived from his Remenham studies, to immediate foreground. Separate unfinished studies related to these amendments are contained in private collections. Nevertheless in other essentials, the present picture catches the mood of the occasion, the English sky, the cool colours and the sense of expectation in the gathering of onlookers.

Kenneth McConkey