Studio RT Ltd

Description

We are offering for sale this beautifully toned watercolour and gouache by the artist John Baragwanath King, who has signed the painting in the lower left hand corner and entitled it verso 'Weather clearing. Upper waters of the Tavy. Heart of Dartmoor'. The painting shows a swirl of cloud around the tor, with the River Tavy meandering below. To the right of the tor, a dark storm cloud is moving away, leaving the top of the tor clearly visible. The River Tavy has many tributaries and is itself a tributary of the Tamar. It gave its name to Tavistock.

JOHN BARAGWANATH KING 1864-1939, was born at Phillack, near Hayle in Cornwall. He originally trained as an engineer, but gave it up to become an artist. He painted principally in watercolours, but painted some oils, mostly marines and coastal scenes. He lived with his wife Helen, (nee James) and eventually their daughter Gladys Baragwanath in St. Austell in Cornwall, but maintained a studio at 55 Connaught Avenue, Plymouth, Devon. He exhibited 1903-1914, 1 painting at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and 48 at the Baillie Gallery. He also exhibited in Paris, Brussels, Florence, and Berlin.

Apart from his artistic career, he was an authority on Cornish history and was made a Bard in 1930. He took as his Bardic name Baragwanath, which means 'wheaten bread' in Cornish. He died at his home Westbourne, St. Austell, Cornwall on 15th April, 1939.

One of his paintings was purchased by Queen Alexandra and then further works by King Edward VII. We have read on google that he fell out of favour, after selling one of his paintings to Kaiser Wilhelm just prior to WWI, but how accurate this is, we do not know.

He also published 'Arthur and Others in Cornwall' and other works.

His biographical details may be found in The Dictionary of British Artists, by The Collectors Club and The Dictionary of British Artist by Grant M. Waters.

Auctions results achieved for works by this artist may be found at artprice.com (218 listings), findartinfo.com (60), arcadja.com (49) and artnet.com (9).

The painting is double mounted in two-tone acid free mountboard and is newly framed in a 1 1/4" bronzed frame. It will be supplied wired and ready to hang.

Image size: 16 1/8" x 10 1/8" - 41cm x 25.7cm

Frame size: 23 3/4" x 18 1/4" - 60.35cm x 46.35cm

Medium: Watercolour and gouache.

Condition: Very good condition. The colours are bright and true and there is no foxing. The frame and mounts are new.