Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale a wonderfully detailed watercolour by the renowned figure and genre painter WILLIAM HARRIS WEATHERHEAD, who has signed the painting in the lower left hand corner and dated it indistinctly. The painting depicts a portrait study of a well dressed young woman in a patterned turquoise dress, selecting a glass from an ornately carved glass and china cabinet. There is a large richly coloured piece of material, possibly a tablecloth, hanging in folds from the open bottom door of the cabinet.

WILLIAM HARRIS WEATHERHEAD 1843-1911, was a London figure and genre painter who lived in Kentish Town. He was the son of William Weatherhead, a steelplate engraver. He married Elizabeth (Emma) Chilton and they had six children. There is a wealth of information about him on google on the family site, including a family tree, a list of all his paintings with great detail and, if you would care to see more of his paintings, there is also a collection of images.

There is a photograph of the artist on the National Portrait Gallery website.

William Weatherhead exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1862 and then at the British Institution and Suffolk Street. He painted in both oil and watercolours, although latterly turned more to watercolours. One of his watercolours is in the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was elected a full Member of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour in 1885 until he resigned in 1903.

Biographical details for this artist may be found in the Dictionary of British Artists, The Dictionary of British Artists by Christopher Wood, British Water Colour Artists by Mallalieu and The Dictionary of British Artists by Grant M. Waters. According to Graves Dictionary, he exhibited a total of 260 paintings at major London exhibitions between 1862 and 1893, when the Dictionary stops. He also exhibited at many major provincial galleries.

His paintings achieve high prices at auction and details may be found at the usual sites or in Hislop's Guide to the UK Art Market, where in 2003, 2 watercolours sold for £1,152 and £2,000 respectively. In 2006, 4 watercolours achieved prices between £300 and £1,100.

The painting has been newly double mounted in two-tone to complement and is newly framed in a 1 1/4" gilt frame to suit. It is ready to hang.

Medium Watercolours heightened with gum arabic on Whatman board.