SIR GEORGE CLAUSEN, R.A., R.W.S., R.I. | Our Blacksmith

Mr and Mrs W. F. Crittall, Dunmow, Essex;
On loan to Leighton House Museum, Kensington;
Private collection;
Sotheby's, London, 13 December 2005, lot 76, where purchased by the present owners

London, Royal Academy, 1931, no.114;
Bradford, Cartwright Hall and London, Royal Academy, George Clausen, 1980, no.154

Kenneth McConkey, George Clausen, exh.cat, Bradford, Cartwright Hall and Royal Academy, 1980, reproduced p.107;
Kenneth McConkey, George Clausen and the Picture of English Rural Life, 2012, illustrated p.195 plate 321

This picture is unlined and in very good condition. There are localised areas of fine craquelure, above the figure on the right and to the show on the central figure. The paint surface appears to be stable and the picture is ready to hang.UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHTThe varnish appears opaque but there seems to only be one small area of possible retouching, to the show on the trousers of the figure on the right.FRAMEThe picture is contained in an attractive moulded plaster and gilt frame with pomegranate and leaf decoration. Other pictures by Clausen were framed this way and it is therefore likely that this is the original 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."

Our Blacksmith was Clausen's major exhibit at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1931. He had painted a smaller picture entitled The Blacksmith in 1926 (Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Libraries) which focused on the left-hand figure of the man working an ingot of iron into a horseshoe. He is holding the iron with long tongs and has a hammer for working the metal around the pointed end of the anvil. The scene was painted in a forge in Essex  where smithies were still active in the early twentieth century. Clausen observed the men working and made a series of energetic sketches to capture force and dynamism of strenuous work. His finished compositional sketch, squared up for transfer of the design to canvas, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Prints and Drawings). The powerful expression of masculine strength found in The Blacksmith was magnified in Our Blacksmith which is arguably Clausen's most dramatic picture of human industry, the labours of physical exertion and the fire and brimstone of the industrialised world. The way in which the red-hot iron casts light upon the clothes of the figures and creates deep shadows, had previously been explored in In The Gun Factory at Woolwich Arsenal of 1918 (Imperial War Museum, London). The present work continues in the genre of paintings depicting industrial labourers that Stanhope Forbes began with pictures such as Forging the Anchor of 1892 (Ipswich Museum and Art Gallery), The Smithy of 1895 and The Steel Workers of 1915. 

On the 27th October 1927 Clausen was introduced to the leading industrial engineer W F Crittall (1887-1956), by Crittall's father who owned a still life painting by the artist. Crittall was a member of the Design and Industries Association and had trained at the St John's Wood Art School where Clausen had distributed prizes. He later designed a revolutionary way of making metal framed window frames. The two men became close friends and Crittall commissioned the present work, possibly after seeing The Blacksmith which was still in Clausen's studio. Clausen was also asked by Crittall to find other artists to paint local workers for a series of pictures he wanted to purchase for his home at Great Easton. Clausen and Crittall holidayed together on several occasions in Walberswick and Clausen painted his portrait for the Royal Academy exhibition of 1936.