Arthur Willett

This idyllic late 19th-century oil painting by English artist Edward William Cooke RA (1811-1880) depicts a west-country cove with two cottages, donkeys, figures, and fishing boats. Cooke was a highly renowned painter of marine scenes and landscapes who exhibited extensively at London’s Royal Academy. From our elevated vantage point, the view extends between two quaint cottages and across the beach before sweeping around the sandy coastline. Crystalline waters lap the shore, where moored craft rest. It’s an accomplished rendering of a challenging composition. It’s enhanced by trees, which essentially ‘frame’ the right side, while a wooded track provides interest on the left. Cooke was a keen admirer of the Dutch old masters, and the spirit of the Golden Age underpins this splendid work. In diaries, he recorded how he travelled by donkey to access elevated spots in the southwest, so it’s conceivable that he did so here. In his catalogue raisonné, it lists a work from the same year titled ‘Bay with Donkeys’. Born in Pentonville, London, Cooke was raised in the company of accomplished artists as both his father, George Cooke (1781-1834), and his uncle, William Bernard Cooke (1778-1855), were engravers. As such, they were associated with a circle of Victorian painters who aided Cooke’s early development. These included the highly regarded marine painter Clarkson Frederick Stanfield RA RBA (1793-1867), who provided frequent advice and inspiration. Indeed, as a teenager, Cooke produced numerous drawings after Stanfield’s works. A precocious talent, by the age of nine, he was already displaying an advanced understanding of engraving, particularly for ships, coupled with a natural, seemingly in-built skill as a draughtsman. Many of his early drawings depict pastoral landscapes after the masters, such as Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683), Paulus Potter (1625-1654), and Karel Dujardin (1626-1678). In an extraordinary turn of events, in 1820, his advanced abilities led to his first commission when he provided botanical illustrations for John Loudon's 'Encyclopaedia of Plants’. These were followed by drawings published in the 'Botanical Cabinet...

We are delighted to offer a captivating watercolor by the American artist Hugo Anton Fisher (1854–1916). This serene composition depicts cows drinking at the edge of a calm body of w...

This early 20th-century oil painting by British artist David Bates (1840-1921) depicts a rural view in Capel Curig, North Wales. Bates was an accomplished landscape painter who often...

This late-19th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Oscar Torna (1842-1894) depicts a river landscape at Grez-Sur-Loing, France, under moonlight. Torna was an important figure in t...

One wonderful thing about this painting is its light. It’s pitch-perfect: if it were a tad darker, it would be gloomy; a tad lighter, and it there would be less to discover. The joy ...

Florentine painter (18th-19th century) - View of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo. 32 x 51 cm without frame, 42 x 63 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a gilded w...

A very tranquil scene of fishing boats moored in harbour with a sunlit sea beyond. Painted with a most attractive palette of blues and greens and with a pleasing composition that le...

This mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to British artist William Adolphus Knell (1805-1875) depicts a sailing yacht before a Mediterranean coastline. Knell was one of the lead...

A view of Stockholm painted from the Royal Park of Djurgården and overlooking the small island of Kastellholmen painted by Alfred Bergström (1869-1930) The church visible in the background is Katharina church, built in 1695, located in Södermalm, Stockholm. Signed: Alfr. Bergström, 1887. Oil on canvas. A very early work by Bergström when he was only 18 years old. Painted en plein air, probably during the late autumn or early winter of 1887 when he did his first year of study at the Royal Art Academy. Alfred Maurits Bergström was a Swedish artist and professor at the Royal Academy of Arts. He was a painter, watercolorist and etcher. During the years 1887–1891 he studied at the Academy and won the Royal Medal...

This charming mid-19th-century oil painting attributed to English artist William Traies (1789-1872) depicts a picturesque river view with cascade, figures and cattle. Traies was an a...

The Summer Bloom Series is an ongoing project that Shizico Yi returns to each summer, painting en plein air in her garden. She began gardening in 2015 to create a healing space for h...

Oil study by a lake and mountains during sunset by Edward Rosenberg (1858-1934). This is a an oil study for a larger painting that Rosenberg did. A te...