The Forgotten Art UK

  On a cold October morning 2019 at Portobello Road market I found an old and awesome engraving by Julien Dupré (1851-1910). The frame was in very poor condition, with a shattered glass. The later rain would presumably have ruined the paper. The artwork did not mention a title, just the author's name, signed on the plate, along with the date, 1889. However, it didn't take me long to guess that it was the Hay Wagons (or The Hayfield). It was an antique etching by master etcher Charles Toussaint after an oil painting (1889) by Julien Dupré. Charles Henri Toussaint (1849-1911) was a French painter, illustrator and etcher, he studied painting and etching in Paris, where he first exhibited his art at the Paris Salon in 1874. During the following years he received numerous awards, including medals from the Exposition Universalle in 1876, 1884, 1899 and 1900. The image size of this etching is 23 x 13 inches, about 55 x 33 cm. An original image is included in the Illustrated Catalogue ...

  In the art exhibitions each picture needs its own space to be admired, but very often the other pictures around contribute to better understand an artwork. As for me, that Breton gouache painting led me to find out a little more about the art of that region, and over time, to buy some other artworks on the Internet that were related to the scene depicted, and that would help to bring meaning to its message. When several paintings speak of the same topic, as with people, a kind of dialogue is established among them. This usually happens even between two artworks with different subjects. A single painting is an orphaned picture. Hence the importance of thematic and monographic exhibitions. Here are some of the engravings and etchings I acquired. They all are pages or fragments of original pages from 19th century illustrated magazines. ‘Les Pêcheuses de crabes au bord de la mer’ (1883). - The Crab Fishers by the Sea is an engraving after a painting by Pierre-Marie Beyle, drawin...

Before resuming my findings at Portobello Road Market I should go back in time to the artwork that actually started this collection, although at that time there was no evidence that this painting on board would ever be hung together with other artworks. I bought this picture at Royal Trinity Hospice, Shepherds Bush (Hammersmith), in July 2019.  The technique used seems to be egg tempera or gouache on paper laid on board. The measures are 25 x 31 cm. The painting is neither signed nor dated.    If I had to date the artwork, I would say it is late 19th or early 20th century. This style of composition fits in well with that period. An example is the engraving Shepherd Girl reproduced in Samuel Gosnell Green's French Pictures drawn with pen and pencil. With illustrations by English and Foreign artists (p. 157), which dates from 1878.  Shepherd Girl (1878). The British Library.   Later in date, and in a fluid, non-academic style, is Breton Girls on a Beach , by Iri...

I mentioned earlier that on that fortunate day, 18th October, I found a second artwork among the stalls at Portobello Road Market, just 50 meters away from the place where I work. Today I will talk about that painting.  The artwork is undated and untitled. If I had to give it one, it would be ‘Winter landscape with figures skating on a frozen river’. This time the picture found is a Dutch School oil painting on wood panel, signed by Gabris in the lower right corner. Its dimensions are 40,5 x  30,5 cm. The picture dates from the 20th century, painted in the style and technique of 19th-century Dutch frozen canal scenes. More specifically, it is in the style of artist Charles Leickert (1816-1907), although the artwork is absolutely original. There is no  evidence  of any painting by Leickert or any other Dutch artist that matches this work, apart from containing common elements in such scenes.  This oil painting is free from any previous restoration or damage ...