A Street In Brittany, After Stanhope Alexander, Late 19th-early 20th Century, Oil On Canvas

European School
A Street in Brittany by Stanhope Alexander Forbes
Oil on canvas
56.5 x 68.5 cm (framed)

A fine period copy faithful to the famous 1881 masterpiece by Stanhope Forbes, on display at the Walker Art Gallery. The scene, a cornerstone of the British Realist Newlyn School, depicts with refined documentary sensitivity a perspective view of a street in the Breton village of Quimperlé, brought to life by female figures engaged in their daily chores in traditional dress. The work stands out for its excellent rendering of atmosphere and light, typical of the Newlyn School’s en plein air style, faithfully reproduced by the copyist both in the color palette and in the vigorous brushwork, rich in texture and chiaroscuro. Set in an important contemporary gilded wooden frame. On the reverse, vintage English newspaper affixed to the stretcher bar.

56.5 x 68.5 cm (with frame)

Provenance
Private Collection

The canvas exhibits a widespread network of craquelure. Minor restorations are present in the central part of the painting. Natural oxidation of the protective varnish.