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

Christie’s, London, 30 October 1970, lot 175;
Lawrences Auctioneers, Crewkerne, 18 January 2013, lot 1641

The canvas has been lined. There is craquelure throughout. Under UV light, there is considerable retouching apparent in parts, mainly to the background around the figure and to the left side of the canvas to the green, where there is extensive infilling to the craquelure. In a gilt composition frame.
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For Lavery the year 1880 began with the acceptance of what would be his first exhibited work at the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Pious Reflections (Private Collection). Comparison of this with The Garden Steps, the present work, reveals a growing maturity that would culminate with his encounter with Bastien-Lepage in Paris a few years later. Confident handling, and careful management of form and colour are becoming clear in this study of a fashionable woman descending a steep flight of garden steps. The rustic wooden bannister suggests that this is a particular location, seen also in Waiting (1881, Renfrew Museums and Galleries). The woman carrying a red flower may, in the present instance, also be identifiable, although little is known about the artist’s social networks at this early date.

We are grateful to Kenneth McConkey for preparing this catalogue note.