Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are pleased to offer for sale this large and beautifully executed watercolour by the artist Norris Fowler Willatt, under his pseudonym Louis Van Staaten, under which name he is probably better known, and it is with this name that this painting is signed in the lower right hand corner. There is no inscription on the reverse of the painting, so we are unaware of the location. The painting depicts a Dutch canal scene, with a Dutch barge moored alongside the side of the canal and a man in a rowing boat heading for a ladder running down the wall. There is the tower of a church, with an interesting cupola on top of it, partially hidden behind the trees.

'Norris Fowler Willatt (1859-1924) was a watercolour landscape painter who lived at Pyrford, near Woking, Surrey, and specialised in painting Dutch canal and town scenes. A self-taught artist, Norris Fowler Willatt first painted the Dutch scenes under his own name, but soon realised that they sold better with a Dutch pseudonym and thus he adopted 'L. Van Staaten'.

He appeared to have found a ready market for his work and did not exhibit widely, although he did show three watercolours at the Royal Academy under the name of Louis Van Staaten. His first exhibit, from a Wimbledon address, was a view of Dordrecht in 1908 and then he showed two further works in 1913 - another Dordrecht view and 'The Interior of an old Surrey Farmhouse'.

As well as the Dutch scenes Norris Willatt painted some English landscapes and these are usually signed under his own name or sometimes 'Murray Thompson'. These were mostly Surrey landscapes and heath scenes, often featuring a shepherd and sheep. The pictures were usually large in size and the competent style and pleasing subjects have made his work increasingly sought after in recent years.'

The three paragraphs in quotes are taken from Jeremy Wood's excellent book 'Hidden Talents'.

There are a multitude of auction results for works by this artist, unfortunately, some of the auction houses and auction results sites say that L. Van Staaten is one of the pseudonyms used by Hermanus Koekkoek II, so it is difficult to say exactly how many are, in fact, his. However, there are 106 on artnet and 205 on findartinfo under L. Van Staaten.

The painting is nicely mounted with washlines and is framed in a 1 5/8" gilt frame. It will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size 22 7/8" x 15 5/8" - 58.1cm x 39.65cm

Frame size 33 1/4" x 25 1/8" - 84.45cm x 63.8cm

Medium Watercolours

Condition Excellent condition with no foxing or fading. The mount and frame are also in very good condition.