Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are pleased to show this beautifully toned oil on canvas by the artist Frederick Foot, who has, as usual, signed and titled the painting verso on the stretcher verso 'F. Foot On The Dart Devon' and dated it 1881. The painting depicts an autumnal view of the River Dart on a sunny day, with the trees turning golden to brown and the river gently babbling over some stones to the left of the painting. On a high pathway above the river to the right, a cowherd is moving three cattle. It must be early in the morning, as mist is still hanging over the river.

On looking through old newspaper articles, we have found that a painting entitled 'On the Dart' was exhibited in the 1872 exhibition of the Bath & West iof England Society in Dorchester and this was reported in the Salisbury & Winchester Journal of 8th June, 1872. As this painting is dated 9 years later, we must assume that it is another example of his River Dart paintings.

FREDERICK FOOT 1830-1908, was a Devon landscape painter in oil, who flourished circa 1857-1867 and lived in Ashburton Devon. He is well known for his local scenes of rivers and bridges, particularly the River Dart. He exhibited 9 paintings at the Royal Academy, 7 at Suffolk Street and 7 at the British Institution.

Frederick Foot was born on 24th June, 1830 in Ashburton, Devon, the son of a Cordwainer and Parish Clerk, Peter Foot and his wife. A cordwainer is the name for a person who makes new shoes from new leather and there was a Cordwainers Guild. Cobblers at this time were only allowed by law to repair shoes. He never married and lived with his partents until his forties, after which he was a boarder at Grove Cottage, Lustleigh, where he died on the 4th February 1908, leaving £184. 4s. 9d. to his youngest sister Jessie.

There is an interesting footnote to his death that we have discovered. His tombstone in the Churchyard of St. Andrews Church in Lustleigh Devon is now a Grade II Listed Monument. It is made of white marble and the leaded inscription is on a drawing board carried on an easel with palette and brushes attached.

Auction results achieved for works by this artist are available at artprice.com (22 listings), findartinfo.com (2), artnet.com (3) and arcadja.com (13). A painting the same size as this one realised £800 at Bearnes in Devon in 2005. and the record for one of his paintings in the last fifteen years is £1,800.

The painting is framed in a 2 1/2 inch warm gilt frame. It will be supplied with new brass hangers, new brass picture wire and will be ready to hang.

Image size: 20 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches - 52cm x 34.3cm

Frame size: 25 3/4 x 18 3/4 inches - 65.45cm x 47.65cm

Medium: Oils on canvas

Condition: Very good. The canvas is clean and taut and there are very faint stretcher marks, and faint craquelure, but the paint surface is unbroken and there are no losses to the paint. The frame is new.