Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this delightful Oil on Canvas by the Yorkshire artist Celia Davis, who has signed the painting in the top left hand corner. The painting depicts two sisters, with the elder one of the two, with her arm lovingly around the younger one, reading her a story. They both have their hair down, meaning that the elder one has to be younger than eighteen and are dressed in the costume of the period 1890-1910. There is some writing on the back of the stretcher, but we have been, unfortunately, unable to read it, as it may have been a clue as to the identity of the sitters.

Celia Davis was born in York in 1854. Her mother was a furrier and the family appeared to be in comfortable circumstances. Celia attended York School of Art for some years in the 1880s, where she received prizes for still life and drawing from life. She and her mother lived at 4 St. Helen Square, St. Helen Stonegate in 1871 and 1881, then at 43 Marygate in the 1891 Census , where Celia was listed as an artist and painter and finally in both the 1901 and 1911 Census she was living at 20 Bootham Terrace York with her uncle after her mother passed away. As this is the last census record we are able to view until 2022, when we can view the 1921 census, we can give no further details about her life.

She is listed in The Dictionary of British Artists (Collectors' Club), The Dictionary of Victorian Painters by Christopher Wood, Painters in the Northern Counties by Dennis Child and in a booklet on The Yorkshire Union of artists 1888-1922, which states that she supported the Union for its first four years. That she exhibited from 1881-1997 and showed landscapes and still life in oils, including 1 at the Royal Academy in 1889 and that her work sells. She was a teacher of art in York. We also know from Graves Dictionary that she showed 1 painting at Suffolk Street in 1892.

According to The Dictionary of British Artists, she also exhibited 3 paintings at the Society of Women Artist, and 1 at Manchester City AG.

The painting is framed in a very nice 3" ornate, swept gilt frame and linen slip. It will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size: 23 1/2" x 19 1/2" - 59.65cm x 49.5cm

Frame size: 30 5/8" x 26 5/8" - 77.75cm x 67.6cm

Medium: Oils on canvas

Condition: Very good. The surface is clean and taut and there is no craquelure, stretcher marks, repairs or paint loss. The frame and slip are in very good condition.