Studio RT Ltd

Description

This is a very well executed, large oil on canvas which we are attributing to the artist R. Allan, well known for his river scenes and very similar to several of his paintings of Windsor Castle. The painting is falsely signed A. A. Glendenning, as shown, (please note the spelling of Glendenning) which is, of course, an error, as the famous artist Alfred Augustus Glendening has only single ns in his name, and it is in lower case characters, where he used capitals. The painting may have been signed at a later date, as there is no information available to show that R. Allan ever used other artists' names. However, no artist would sign his name with the wrong spelling, so it is definitely not by Glendening.

According to Jeremy Wood's book 'Hidden Talents, A Dictionary of Neglected Artists working 1880-1950' and I quote 'R. Allan (fl. 1900s) was a painter in oil of river landscapes, who was working at around the turn of the century. This prolific artist appears to have signed with other initials and sometime just 'Allan'. Many of the subjects were Thames views and often painted in pairs. The work is not usually dated, but the title is often inscribed on the reverse.'

The painting depicts the castle behind a heavy belt of trees, with the river Thames below and two swans swimming near the bank. Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost 1,000 years of architectural history.

The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish early 19th-century State Apartments were described by early 20th century art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.

The painting is framed in an ornate, swept gilt frame. It will be supplied with new brass hangers, new brass picture wire and will be ready to hang.

Image size: 29 1/2 x 17 3/8 inches - 75cm x 44.2cm

Frame size: 35 1/8 x 23 1/8 inches 89.2cm x 58.25cm

Medium: Oils on relined canvas

Condition: Very good. As the canvas has been relined, the painting is now in very good condition, with a clean surface and no paint loss. There is evidence of previous fine craquelure and stretcher marks, although now solved by the relining. but still faintly visible.