Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this beautifully executed, watercolour by the artist ARTHUR SUKER, who has initialled the painting in the lower left hand corner and entitled it verso No. 81 Evening on Dartmoor. The painting depicts a sunset scene over Dartmoor, with its autumnal colours of heather and brush, with a small stream meandering through the moor.

ARTHUR SUKER 1857-1940, was born in Cheshire on 23rd July, 1857, the son of John and Elizabeth Suker, eventually moving to Cornwall and finally Brixham and then Paignton in Devon. He exhibited his work between 1882 and 1902. He studied for about two years at the Birkenhead School of Art and painted landscapes and coastal scenes in oil and watercolour. He was the brother of Frederick Clive Newcombe and the first cousin of W. Crane, both of whom were artists, as was his father John Suker. As well as Devon and Cornwall, he painted in Wales, the Lake District, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Examples of his work may be found in Sydney Art Gallery, Australia.

In the 1881 Census, Arthur was in Whitby, married to his first wife Emily Charlotte (nee Tomlinson) born in 1852, who he married that year. By 1891, they had moved to Penzance and in 1901 he and Emily, along with his niece were living in Brixham, Devon. We cannot find a record for either Arthur or Emily in the 1911 Census, being the last one available for viewing, but Emily died in 1925 and the same year he married a Mabel L. (nee Potter) born in 1875. In the 1939 Register, he was listed as a retired artist, living at Brendoone, Mortimer Avenue, Paignton. He died presumably at this address, in the second quarter of 1940.

His bibliographical details may be found in The Dictionary of Victorian Painters, by Wood, The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists by Mallalieu and The Dictionary of British Artists. According to Graves Dictionary, while living in Merton in 1886, he exhibited 1 painting under the heading Sea Pieces, at the Royal Academy. Other than this, Arthur Suker exhibited 12 paintings at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, 2 at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and 1 each at the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, Manchester City Art Gallery and the Dudley Gallery. He also exhibited widely in the West Country.

The auction results for this artist may be found on artnet.com (46 listings), findartinfo.com (126), artprice.com (283) and arcadja.com (122). He is also quoted in Hislop's Guide to the UK Art Market, where a watercolour of his entitled 'On the Cornish Coast' achieved £1,500 in 2006 at Halls Auction in Shrewsbury.

The painting has been newly double mounted in two tone to complement and is framed in a 3/4" reeded gilt frame. It will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size: 15" x 6 3/8" - 38.1cm x 16.2cm

Frame size: 21" x 12 3/4" - 53.3cm x 32.4cm

Medium: Watercolours

Condition: Very good. There is no foxing and the colours are strong. The mounts are new and the frame is in good condition.