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Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902-1981) Reclining Nude, c. 1936
Tempera on canvas 76.5 x 102cm Signed lower right 'Blair H S'. Provenance: The estate of the artist. A magnificent abstract nude rendered in a dynamic colour palette. This is probably Hughes-Stanton's most important work, and belongs to the nation's great, if brief, period of British Surrealism. The three major elements are distinct: the pastel tones of the window view and wall, the sensual curvatures of the pale nude, and the bold foreground featuring a fantastically accomplished still life of a fruit bowl (which could be a painting in and of itself) and the impressively phallic chair back. This is a brilliant example of erotic modernist abstraction. Blair Hughes-Stanton, son of the artist Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton, was a noted British artist of the interwar period. At the age of 13 he joined the Royal Navy training ship HMS Coway, but at 19 - advised by his father - he abandoned the sea for his paintbox. He studied art at Byam Shaw School (1919-1922) where he was influenced by Leon Underwood (who was a major influence throughout his studying), Royal Academy Schools (1922-23), and Leon Underwood's School (1923-25). He was celebrated mostly for his skills as an engraver, and was a founding member of the English Wood Engraving Society when it was established in 1925. His first wife was the printmaker Gertrude Hermes with whom he illustrated John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress in 1928. In 1931 he became head of the Gregynog Press, later establishing the Gemini Press with his second wife Ida Graves. During the course of his career he worked in various media, though his art frequently focused on the female nude. He taught at Westminster School of Art (1934-39), Colchester School of Art (1945-47); St Martin's School of Art (1947-48); and Central School of Arts and Crafts (1948-80). His teaching career was interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served as a camofleur and then joined the Royal Engineers (ignoring his earlier life in the Navy). Serving in Greece, he was captured as a prisoner of war and was imprisoned in a camp. He returned to England after the war. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Ernest Wallcousins (1882-1976)
Keep Calm and Carry On
Ministry of Information Original poster, 1939 76 x 50 cm ('Double Crown' size) Very rare - we have traced copies in the Imperial War Museum collection but no other public collection. Scroll down for further information. Condition: A/A- Generally excellent, with three folds and a small crease as visible in photograph and tiny loss to left edge of middle fold. Deliberately not backed this to linen or over-restored as it is important that it does not look like a modern reproduction. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Charles Paine (1895 - 1967)
Boat Race 1921
Lithograph 102 x 64 cm Signed upper right in plate. Charles Paine's iconic 1921 poster encourages the use of the London Underground in order to view the Boat Race. The slick design features one boat’s stern disappearing from the frame and the other boat’s bow entering it (Cambridge won that year), alongside a strikingly Art Deco typeface. Charles Paine was a versatile and prolific designer, who drew on his training in stained glass to create bold, structured and highly stylised lithographs for a variety of companies. This decorative and brightly-coloured map illustrates the various county regiments of Great Britain, with a border of regimental badges. Condition: backed to linen; excellent, two small areas of repair to margin (invisible); hint of old folds. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other Boat Race pictures. -
Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988)
New York Bridges (1982)
Oil on canvas 76 x 61 cm (29.9 x 24 in.) In artist's original wooden frame. Provenance: the estate of Mary Fedden from the estate of her husband Julian Trevelyan. Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988)
Cretan Windmills (1964)
Oil on canvas 61 x 77 cm Peasants and a donkey, followed by a cow and goat, travel along the Cretan shore. Windmills dominate the shoreline - Julian Trevelyan was markedly inspired by the windmills he saw while visiting Crete in the 1960s. The composition is substantially made up of triangular forms; the inverted floating pyramid hovers above the flashing blades of the windmills. Combined with the man, woman, and donkey in the foreground, the pyramid detail suggests Mary and Joseph’s Flight into Egypt. Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Edward Quin (British 1794-1828)
Twenty-one maps from An Historical Atlas in a Series of Maps of the World As Known at Different Periods.
Twenty-one hand-coloured engraved maps, various sizes, presented in fine hand-finished rosewood veneer frames. Click on the image to see all twenty-one maps. 15 approx 40 x 31 cm 5 approx 62 x 31 cm Seeley and Burnside np. nd. [London c. 1830] Scroll down for further information. -
Terry Frost (1915-2003)
Autumnal Landscape in Red, Black and Yellow
Watercolour 40 x 58 cm Signed and dated 1958 Framed in hand-finished grey 'Nicholson' butt-jointed frame. Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. In 1954 Frost moved to Leeds to become Gregory Fellow at the University. This began a period when he painted yellow and black and white paintings, inspired by the Yorkshire landscape. In 1958 he joined the London group and then moved to St Ives. This painting dates to this era. -
William Alfred Pite (1860-1949)
King`s College Hospital, Denmark Hill general bird`s-eye view (1913)
Initialled H.M.F., signed and titled by William A. Pite F.R.I.B.A. (1860-1949), lower right, on board support with R.I.B.A. `Exhibition of Contemporary British Architecture` label, and architect`s label both mounted on verso Watercolour over pencil 46 x 92cm (26.25 x 18 inches) -
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004)
Monreale, Sicily (1955)
Pencil and wash on paper 48 x 58 cm Signed and dated lower left. A heady evocation of summer in Sicily, characterised by burnt oranges and yellows. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, known as Willie, was born in St Andrews, Fife, on 8 June 1912. Her parents were second cousins, and their respective families were well established representatives of minor Scottish gentry from both the east and west of the country. As a child, Barns-Graham showed very early signs of creative ability. It was at school that Wilhelmina decided that she wanted to be an artist, stating later in life that "painting chose me, not I it". After school she set her sights on Edinburgh College of Art where, after some dispute with her father (who was an emotional man prone to uncontrolled anger), she enrolled in 1931. During her time at Edinburgh College, Barns-Graham was taught by tutors including portrait painter David Alison and painter William MacTaggart. Her friends there included the influential Scottish painters Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun, and William Gear. After her education, Barns-Graham made study trips to Paris, London, and St Tropez before moving to St Ives, Cornwall, in 1940 (at the suggestion of the Edinburgh College of Art's Principal Hubert Wellington). Barns-Graham moved near to where a group of modernist artists had settled, at Carbis Bay - this was a pivotal moment in her life. On one of her first evenings there she met the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, who made an immediate and lasting impression on her. She then went on to meet Borlase Smart, Alfred Wallis, and Bernard Leach, as well as the painter Ben Nicholson and the sculptors Naum Gabo and Margaret Mellis. After two weeks in St Ives, Barns-Graham acquired her first studio, directly below the Porthmeor Gallery which was the administrative headquarters of the St Ives Society of Artists. Her paintings at the time were heavily influenced by the Cornish landscapes and the St Ives harbour. During 1940 and 1941, Barns-Graham contributed to the war effort by volunteering in a factory making camouflage nets. In 1942 Barns-Graham became a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, in which she exhibited with every year, and the St Ives Society of Artists. Whilst establishing herself in St Ives, Barns-Graham also continued to send work back to Scotland for major exhibitions held there such as the Royal Scottish Academy's 117th Exhibition in 1943. The 1940s were an active time for the St Ives Society of Artists who received a number of invitations to send exhibitions and groups of works to galleries in the UK and abroad, Barns-Graham's work was always included in these as the Society's secretary, Borlase Smart, thought highly of her work. Barns-Graham's first opportunity to exhibit in London came when her work was included in a group exhibition of six at the Redfern Gallery. This was due to the introduction and support of Patrick Heron, who had visited Barns-Graham's studio in St Ives and was excited by her work. Barns-Graham would later have her first one-person exhibition in London at Redfern in 1952. After a few years of tension, Barns-Graham eventually left the St Ives Society of Artists in 1949, becoming one of the founding members of a new breakaway group named Penwith Society of Arts. The first Penwith Society exhibition opened in June 1949 to huge success - 2755 paying visitors came to see it. Provenance: Barns-Graham Charitable Trust, authentication no 1665. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Bryan Ingham (1936-1997)
Upright Jug (1993-95)
Pencil and oil on board 64 x 19 cm Provenance: Bohun Galleries, Paintings in Hospitals. Signed, titled and dated 1993-95 (on backboard). Bryan Ingham was born in Yorkshire. For his National Service he joined the RAF, and spent his time in Germany as an airman. After demobilisation, his final report included the statement that "Ingham is an artistic sort of airman." In his spare time he had started painting in oils, and by the time he left the RAF he had completed a large number of paintings. He studied at St Martin's School of Art in London, where he had the tuition of a fine post-war generation of teachers who helped him to hone his draughtsmanship and other skills, and he swiftly showed a capacity for painting that drew the attention of his tutors and peers. On graduating he was offered and accepted a post-graduate place at the Royal College of Art, where in his second year he was awarded a Royal Scholarship and was a contemporary of a number of now better-known names including David Hockney. Ingham applied for and received a Leverhulme travel award to explore the sites of the great Renaissance painters, and spent many happy months engaged in this expedition. He spent time at the English Art school in Rome, where he lived well and busied himself the same studio that Barbara Hepworth had used. At this stage of his career, Ingham consciously rejected the prospect of pursuing a career as an establishment artist, although the RA was open to him, and he went to live in remote cottage in Cornwall. The subsequent years were varied and highly productive, and Ingham's personal artistic voice emerged in his oeuvre in the form of an always-developing dialogue with influences both of landscape and other artists of every age. His preoccupation with etching resulted in several hundred plates, some very large, and the results are as unmistakable as they are varied, but invariably of outstanding quality. He produced a number of sculptures in bronze and in plaster, while his lifelong output of paintings remained small but again of very high quality. He taught etching regularly until about 5 years before his death, latterly at Falmouth Art School, and also at Farnham Art College. During the late eighties he established a relationship with the art dealer Francis Graham-Dixon, who had a London gallery. This meant that his paintings were professionally marketed for the first time, and prices for his work rose steadily in the last ten years of his life, and subsequently. He was able to purchase a cottage in Helston for his parents, who lived there until their deaths. He then moved into a fine set of converted-barn studios with a patch of garden, quietly situated off the High St in Helston, and it was here, on 22 September 1997, that he died, having quietly suffered from cancer for nearly a year. If you'd like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Condition: Generally excellent; framed. -
John Piper (1903 - 1992)
Cartoon for Baptistry Chapel Window, Coventry Cathedral
Gouache and mixed media art 127 x 54 cm Labelled B101 by the artist and initialled. A gouache design for one of the Coventry Cathedral Baptistry Window panels. John Piper was commissioned to design the Baptistry Window in 1955, in partnership with glassmaker Patrick Reyntiens. The window is made of 198 panels of stained glass and is 26 metres high.Piper commented in his book “Stained Glass: Art or Anti-Art?” that ‘The function, the flesh and blood and bones of stained glass – its whole being – is to gratify light and to intensify atmosphere in a room or building, not necessarily to provide colour – or a message.’ The ambiguous post-war tenor of the design is striking: the khaki palette, the soldier-like figure, and the landscape evoking a 20th century theatre of war.
John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Condition: very good. Four pin holes and a small handling mark mid left. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other works by John Piper. -
John Piper C.H. (1903-1992)
Garn Fawr
Watercolour and gouache on paper; executed 1969 37 x 54 cm Titled and dated lower left ‘Garn Fawr 12 VIII 69′; signed lower right. It was Piper's wife, Myfanwy - whom he met whilst she lived in London with her Welsh family - who first introduced Piper to West Wales in the 1930s. The Pembrokeshire landscape became his muse, as it also did for Graham Sutherland, another great neo-romantic painter. Having lived in various parts of Wales during the post-war period, the Pipers bought a cottage by Garn Fawr, on the Pembrokeshire Coas, in 1962. The volcanic outcrop was the site of an Iron Age hill fort, and had also been used as a high-viewpoint during the First World War. Piper started out as a mostly abstract artist, but by the 1960s he had moved more towards realism, often focusing on depicting architecture. Here, Piper paints the wet Welsh countryside. Each of the fields is complete with its own crop; the different plants and flowers are designated by characteristic splashes of dark colour. For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Bryan Ingham (1936-1997)
Erotisches Bild (1988)
Oil on board 62 x 11 cm Provenance: Fracis Graham-Dixon gallery. Titled to backboard and dated 1988. Bryan Ingham was born in Yorkshire. For his National Service he joined the RAF, and spent his time in Germany as an airman. After demobilisation, his final report included the statement that "Ingham is an artistic sort of airman." In his spare time he had started painting in oils, and by the time he left the RAF he had completed a large number of paintings. He studied at St Martin's School of Art in London, where he had the tuition of a fine post-war generation of teachers who helped him to hone his draughtsmanship and other skills, and he swiftly showed a capacity for painting that drew the attention of his tutors and peers. On graduating he was offered and accepted a post-graduate place at the Royal College of Art, where in his second year he was awarded a Royal Scholarship and was a contemporary of a number of now better-known names including David Hockney. Ingham applied for and received a Leverhulme travel award to explore the sites of the great Renaissance painters, and spent many happy months engaged in this expedition. He spent time at the English Art school in Rome, where he lived well and busied himself the same studio that Barbara Hepworth had used. At this stage of his career, Ingham consciously rejected the prospect of pursuing a career as an establishment artist, although the RA was open to him, and he went to live in remote cottage in Cornwall. The subsequent years were varied and highly productive, and Ingham's personal artistic voice emerged in his oeuvre in the form of an always-developing dialogue with influences both of landscape and other artists of every age. His preoccupation with etching resulted in several hundred plates, some very large, and the results are as unmistakable as they are varied, but invariably of outstanding quality. He produced a number of sculptures in bronze and in plaster, while his lifelong output of paintings remained small but again of very high quality. He taught etching regularly until about 5 years before his death, latterly at Falmouth Art School, and also at Farnham Art College. During the late eighties he established a relationship with the art dealer Francis Graham-Dixon, who had a London gallery. This meant that his paintings were professionally marketed for the first time, and prices for his work rose steadily in the last ten years of his life, and subsequently. He was able to purchase a cottage in Helston for his parents, who lived there until their deaths. He then moved into a fine set of converted-barn studios with a patch of garden, quietly situated off the High St in Helston, and it was here, on 22 September 1997, that he died, having quietly suffered from cancer for nearly a year. Condition: Generally very good, scrapes to board as intended by artist. Framed. If you'd like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Ernest Wallcousins (1882-1976) Keep Calm and Carry On (Medium size)
Ministry of Information Lithographic poster, 1939 50 x 37 cm ('Crown' size) Very rare - we have traced copies in the Imperial War Museum collection but no other public collection. Provenance: part of a small stock of posters cleared from a police station in Suffolk in the 1940s. These posters were generally sent out to police stations in groups of six or twelve. Shortly after the war, during a clear-out of the police station, these posters were put aside to be disposed of. A young police constable requested permission to take them home, and permission was granted. They spent the following nearly eight decades, surviving house moves and a long-suffering wife, sitting in a drawer. Following the policeman's death, his family have allowed the posters to be sold. As the small stock of posters at this police station came in all three sizes (small at 38 x 25 cm; medium at 38 x 50 cm; large at 75 x 50 cm) we are able to offer all three for sale today. An instantly-recognisable brand today, this poster was reserved for use in the event of the German invasion. Once it became obvious that they were not going to invade, these posters were sent back for recycling. As they were never used, the survivors are incredibly rare. Of public collections only the Imperial War Museum – which has a very extensive collection of wartime posters – has a copy of this poster. The story of the poster is well known these days, but bears repeating. In 1939, with invasion an ever-present threat, HM Government commissioned three posters with snippets designed to encourage the population. Bearing a crown at the top, it was clearly intended to be a message from the King: “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution, Will Bring Us Victory” was displayed widely, with hundreds of thousands being printed; similarly “Freedom is in Peril Defend it with all Your Might.” The third poster – “Keep Calm and Carry On” – was distributed, but was to be held back and only used in the event of invasion. In the event the poster campaign was not a great success, with the people regarding it as an instruction from the powers-that-be that it was the people, not the leaders, who were going to be the ones doing the hard work. As the invasion never happened, Hitler’s armies being otherwise occupied elsewhere in the world, and the Spitfire achieving victory in the Battle of Britain, the Keep Calm posters were never used. Owing to the shortage of raw materials, the paper was recycled and there the story should have ended. However, in 2000, the owner of Barter Books in Alnwick discovered a copy of the poster in the bottom of a box of books. They hung it up in their shop and started producing reproductions, and the poster has become an internationally recognised image, reproduced on mugs, t-shirts, and adapted into such uplifting slogans as “Keep Calm and Drink Tea”. A much more successful series of propaganda was created by ‘Fougasse’ – Cyril Bird. Picture editor of Punch from 1937-1949, then editor until 1953, he noted that the best sort of advertising would make people smile. He worked unpaid for the Ministry of Information during the war, producing cartoons with a short word of advise. His Careless Talk Costs Lives series of posters are amongst the most famous of the propaganda campaigns of the Second World War. -
Fredda Brilliant (1903-1999)
The Young Atlas
Patinated bronze 52.5 x 41.5 x 27.5 cm ; 16kg. On wooden base Fredda Brilliant was a Polish sculptor and actress, born in Łódź, Poland. She worked in a variety of media and is recognized as an accomplished sculptor, writer, actor, singer and script writer. Throughout her career she traveled extensively working in England, USA, Australia, India, Poland and Russia. Brilliant sculpted some of the greatest figures of her time including Jawaharlal Nehru, V.K. Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, U.S. President John F Kennedy, and Buckminster Fuller. She also sculpted her husband, the writer Herbert Marshall. Brilliant's most famous work is a bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi which is the centerpiece of the park in Tavistock Square, London, UK. Condition: excellent. -
John Aldridge RA (1905 - 1983)
Still Life with Globe Painted at El Porche, Dejà, Mallorca 1932
Oil on Board 74 x 62 cm Signed ‘John Aldridge’ lower right, inscribed 'Deja 32' lower left, and titled to reverse. A British oil painter, designer of wallpapers and textiles, book illustrator, art teacher and enthusiastic plantsman, John Aldridge was born in Woolwich, England, and grew up in a comparatively wealthy military family. After reading Greats at the University of Oxford, Aldridge graduated in 1928 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, settling in London and teaching himself to paint. Invited by Ben Nicholson, Aldridge joined artists such as Hepworth, Moore and Piper in the ‘Seven and Five Society’ with whom he held his first mixed exhibition in 1931. Despite being based in London during this time, Aldridge made excursions to Paris, Germany, Italy, Tenerife and Mallorca. As a dear friend of the poet Robert Graves, the two spent endless holidays together in Mallorca near Deià, Graves having a house there which can be visited to this day. This work is inscribed ‘Deyà 32’ in the lower left corner, thus it is likely that it was painted during one of these periods. Exhibitions held with the ‘Seven and Five Society’ at Leicester Galleries in this period lead to numerous other exhibitions of his work, both with the ‘Seven and Five Society’ and otherwise. Aldridge was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1954, then a full member (RA) in 1963. Despite this, during his later years Aldridge’s art went out of fashion, his somewhat nostalgic works out of style with the arrival of the swinging 60s and 70s that treated old England as an abomination that needed to be forgotten. Since then, Aldridge’s art has been brought back into the eyes of the fine arts industry and recognised as it deserves. True to Aldridge’s diverse output, this work reflects the rapid-spreading modernist movement of the early twentieth century. It mimics Cézanne’s dual perspective, looking down yet looking forwards. The technique encapsulates the human experience of multiple viewpoints while simultaneously creating a sense of instability. The globe, often associated with knowledge, exploration and a symbol of human control over the world, is juxtaposed with the wilting pot plant, a motif of the transience and uncontrollability of nature. On account of the unsteadiness, the globe appears precarious, teetering on the edge of the table, while the plant stands firmly in the centre, perhaps signifying that nature is ultimately more dominant that a futile human attempt at control over the world. Although the objects appear simple or mundane, Aldridge uses this altar-like setup, pedestalling them to encourage the viewer to contemplate objects which would otherwise go unnoticed. The objects themselves are traditional, the globe a contemplative symbol shared with Holbein’s ‘The Ambassadors’, yet Aldridge follows in the footsteps of the emerging modernists, breaking the mould through perspective and abstraction, opening an opportunity for reception theory; the meaning of the painting changes and evolves for each new spectator. His art is in major public collections such as the Tate, the British Council, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Academy and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden, which specialises in East Anglian pictures, has a significant holding of his work. Condition: generally very good. Distressed frame with occasional loss, and board slightly bowed. -
William Logsdail (1859-1944)
Cloisters of New College, Oxford
Oil on board 39 x 28 cm Signed lower right. In original Watts-style gilt frame. Logsdail was educated at Lincoln Cathedral School and then Lincoln School of Art. Initially intending to become an architect, he was encouraged to divert his attentions to painting. After winning a Gold Medal in a competition against students of other English art schools, Logsdail continued his painting career at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Antwerp. His promise was recognised by the Royal Household when his 1880 picture The Fish Market was purchased for Osborne House. Logsdail went on to spend the next twenty years in Venice, studying and painting the city's architecture. His 1883 rendering of the Piazza of St Mark's, Venice, was named by the Royal Academy as picture of the year. He also spent time painting the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge. In 1912, having moved away from architectural painting and towards portraiture, he was elected to the Society of Portrait Painters. He settled in Oxfordshire in 1922. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other views of New College, Oxford. -
William Logsdail (1859-1944)
Trinity College Gateway, Oxford
Oil on canvas Signed W Logsdail (lower right) 37 x 29.5 cm (14.5 x 11.5 in) Biographical details and other works by Logsdail may be found by clicking here. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Logsdail's skill at painting old stonework is particularly clear here, the crumbling stonework of the gateway has been created through the blending of a large spectrum of colours, creating a very realistic effect. -
Winston Churchill 'We shall never surrender.'
Original vintage poster 50 x 34 cm 'We shall not flag or fail, we shall go on to the end. We shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.' Winston Churchill's 'We Shall Fight on the Beaches' speech, delivered to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, is one of the most famous speeches of World War II. It was given in the wake of the Dunkirk evacuation (Operation Dynamo), where over 300,000 British and Allied troops were successfully rescued from France as German forces advanced. In this speech, Churchill had to describe a great military disaster, and warn of a possible invasion attempt by Nazi Germany, without casting doubt on eventual victory. The simple repetition and rhythm are unforgettable and helped to cement Churchill's reputation as an exceptional wartime leader. -
Original Winston Churchill Poster
Lithograph 51 x 40 cm c.1940-1945 "Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few." The summer of 1940 saw the Battle of Britain reach its peak. Churchill delivered this speech to the House of Commons on the 20th of August 1940. The Battle of Britain had reached its peak that summer and when Churchill famously stated "Never in the field of human conflict have so many owed so much to so few", he was paying tribute to the enormous efforts made by the fighter pilots and bomber crews to establish air superiority over England. At the end of June 1940, the Luftwaffe had a large numerical superiority over the Royal Air Force, with around 2,550 planes compared to the only 750 planes of the RAF. As a result, the pilots who fought in the victorious Battle of Britain were known as "the few." This speech figures among Churchill's most famous, standing alongside "we shall fight on the beaches", "their finest hour", and "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" in the history books. This poster features the famous quote in bold lettering with a faint outline of Churchill's face in the background. The insignia of the Royal Air Force dominates the top of the poster, linking the speech to its context within the Battle of Britain. Condition: Generally very good, backed to linen.If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.
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John Piper (1903 - 1992)
Newchurch, Romney Marsh (1947)
Watercolour 40 x 57 cm Provenance: Marlborough Galleries. Signed lower right. A characterful Piper view of Newchurch Church, Kent, with its leaning tower. Piper was rather enamoured by Romney Marsh's churches; the architectural historian Nicholas Pevsner commissioned him in 1947 to produce a book on the area for King Penguin Books. Piper stayed for a time there and the published book included water-colours, drawings, and musings on the Marsh. John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Condition: very good. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other works by John Piper. -
Wilfred Gabriel de Glehn RA (1870-1951)
Clare College from the Backs
Watercolour Inscribed “To my friend H Thirkill Master of Clare” Signed “W de Glehn, 1940” 40x50cm De Glehn painted Henry Thirkill in a portrait that is in the collection of Clare College and may be viewed here. Thirkill was Master between 1939 and 1958 and the portrait was commissioned in 1947. A versatile painter, skilled at portraiture, landscapes and figures de Glehn is regarded as one of England’s premier Impressionist painters. His ability to portray lighting in a lively fashion and his vibrant use of colour combine to provide wonderfully rich paintings. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Michael Ayrton (1921-1975) Girl Wringing out her Hair Patinated bronze, 1962 26cm in height Michael Ayrton was a British artist and writer, renowned as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and designer, and also as a critic, broadcaster and novelist. This sculpture, rendered in patinated bronze, is a portrayal of an unposed nude, one of Ayrton's favourite subjects. In his book "Drawings and Sculpture", Ayrton muses on his studies of bathers: 'I like to study the nude when he or she is untroubled by my observation, and bathers in general are the only nudes, or semi-nudes, who are not particularly interested in the onlooker.' Provenance: Acquired directly from the Artist by Nigel Balchin, a close friend of Ayrton's, thence by descent to the previous owner. Sotheby's, Lot 128, 11 July 2013. Literature: Michael Ayrton, Drawings and Sculpture, with a Forward by C. P. Snow, Cory, Adams & Mackay, London, 1962, illustrated pl.73 (another cast). If you'd ike to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Piper (1903-1992)
Bullslaughter Bay
Watercolour, gouache and pastel on paper 27.5 x 35.5cm John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Piper spent a considerable amount of time in Pembrokeshire, frequently returning to the landscape of Bullslaughter Bay; this painting was probably produced there in the mid-1950s. The artist captures an animated, capricious bay, characterised by a distinctive colour palette and stamped with irregular rock formations. Condition: generally excellent. For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Piper (1903-1992)
Reims Cathedral (c. 1960)
Ink, watercolour and gouache 21x35cm Inscribed 'Reims' lower left and signed 'John Piper' lower right. Piper loved all things France, and all things Cathedral; in this work, he brings the cathedral of Reims, where France's monarchs were crowned, to life. Piper also produced an aquatint of Reims which was published in 1972. For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Condition: Generally excellent; framed. -
Sir Edward Maufe (1882 - 1974)
Design for House on Round Island, Poole Harbour
Watercolour and collage 30 x 47 cm Signed lower right Edward [Maufe]. Provenance the estate of Bernard Bumpus, together with several other Maufe drawings. Drawing for D Beatty Pownall Architect. A design for an Art Deco house by the coast, complete with seagulls and boats. Maufe is probably most famous for his Guildford Cathedral, the Air Forces Memorial, and his work for the Imperial War Graves Commission, for which he received his knighthood in 1954. He served a five-year apprenticeship under William Pite and then attended St John’s College, Oxford as an undergraduate. He then studied Design at the Architectural Association. His architecture is notable for its strong Arts and Crafts influence; this likely arose from his having lived in The Red House, Bexleyheath, which Philip Webb designed for the most famous of the Arts and Crafts designers: William Morris. Condition: generally very good, save for missing area in bottom right hand corner which has been repaired professionally. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for more architectural designs. -
Ken Howard RA (1932 - 2022)
Hampstead Church (St Stephen's Church, Rosslyn Hill)
Oil on board 75 x 91 cm Ken Howard's magnificent view of St Stephen's Church, Hampstead. The artist's rich, deep colour palette and use of impasto underline the neo-gothic style of the church. Howard died in Hampstead and painted several views of the area and its architecture. St Stephen's was designed in the Neo Gothic style by Samuel Sanders Teulon and he considered it the best of the 114 churches he designed, calling it his "mighty church". The building is no longer a church, but wedding ceremonies still take place there; it was made a Grade I listed building in 1974. Kenneth Howard OBE RA was a British artist and painter. He was President of the New English Art Club from 1998 to 2003. He studied at the Hornsey College of Art and the Royal College of Art. In 1958 he won a British Council Scholarship to Florence, and in 1973 and 1978 he was the Official War Artist to Northern Ireland, and 1973 - 80 worked in various locations, including Hong Kong, Cyprus and Canada with the British Army. In 1983 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA). In 1998 he became President of the New English Art Club, a post he held until 2003. In 1991 he was elected a Royal Academician (RA). Howard was given his OBE in 2010. Condition: very good. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Terry Frost (1915-2003)
'Untitled Landscape'
Oil on canvas, laid on board 22 x 81.5cm Exhibited London, Coram Gallery, Terry Frost: Works on Paper and Small Paintings, 23 September-29 October 1994 Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Samuel Alken Delineations of British Field Sports Lithograph series 25 x 42 cm Samuel Alken Jr. (1784–1825) was a British artist and engraver, part of the prominent Alken family of painters and engravers, known for their sporting and hunting scenes. He was the son of Samuel Alken Sr. and contributed significantly to the family's artistic legacy. Like his father, Alken Jr. worked primarily in engraving and painting, specialising in aquatint and other printmaking techniques. In-keeping with family tradition, Alken Jr. often depicted sporting subjects such as horse racing, hunting, and other outdoor pursuits in his engravings and paintings. As such, his works have been praised for their dynamic composition and attention to detail. This lithograph series originally featured in 'Delineations of British Field Sports - Together with the various methods of painting. A series published by Alken's in 1822, the coloured issue ranks as one of the rarest sporting books of the period. There is only one record of a second coloured copy, which is 'untraceable' according to Schwerdt. Schwerdt also notes that the vigorous style of these plates made them eminently suitable for framing, and accounts in part for their rarity; 'twenty years' search has not enabled us to make up a complete set'. This extensive series comprises (as pictured): Death of the Fox Gamekeepers shooting a buck Race Horses in Training Poachers Netting Partridges Coursing the Hare Drawing the Badger Death of the Hare Pheasant Poaching Stag Hunting Coursing scene. Condition: Generally very good. If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Cyril Farey (1888-1954)
Design for Princes Court Knightsbridge (1947)
Pencil and watercolour 56x76cm Inscribed (lower left) ‘Val Myer & Watson-Hart F.F.R.I.B.A. Architects’; (centre) ‘Cyril A Farey Del 1947’; and (right) ‘Griggs & Son, Ltd Contractors of Westminster’. Opposite Harrods, on Knightsbridge, this design for a fine block of apartments shows Farey at his most expressive. The Mediterranean blue sky is unmistakable, and the plethora of buses and cars assisting the many people to go about their daily activity. -
Fred Mayor (British, 1865-1916)
Magdalen College, Oxford
Watercolour and pencil 12x15" In this painting, Mayor catches Magdalen in his usual impressionistic style, with an effective use of splashes of colour and careful use of lighting. Born near Ripon in Yorkshire, Mayor was educated at St Edmund's School Canterbury where he excelled both at drawing and cricket. The former became his profession and he began with a studio in Chiswick shared with Frank Brangwyn. In 1886 he followed the well-trodden path of spending time in Paris, studying at the Academie Julian, and also meeting Wilson Steer and Walter Sickert who influenced his work and were lifelong friends of his. In 1888 at the age of just twenty-one a painting of his was accepted at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 1899 he moved to join the artists' colony in Staithes, Yorkshire, where other artists included Harold and Dame Laura Knight. He met, and subsequently married, another artist - Sheffield-born Hannah Hoyland. Married life began by eloping to Montreuil-sur-Mer in northern France where Mayor developed his characteristic impressionistic style. He died in 1916 whilst undergoing a routine operation for asthma, which was required before he could become a war artist. -
Out of stock
Johannes Kip (1652 - 1722) after R Whitehand
Prospect of Cambridge from the South East (1724)
Engraving 57 x 88 cm A view of the city of Cambridge, replete with college spires, by Johannes ''Jan'' Kip, the Dutch draughtsman, engraver and print dealer. The engraving illustrates an 18th century Cambridge defined by livestock and farmhands, as well as its University. The largest and best view of Cambridge, extremely rare - we have not traced any other copies at auction. Condition: good. Previously folded, occasional small losses and the odd slightly toned patch; two joined sheets. Trimmed to within platemark; very rare. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
'Eton College, a scholar on the steps' (early 20th century)
Oil on canvas 62 x 49 One of our favourite paintings. A lone scholar descends the Chapel steps, a human focal point in an oil painting primarily concerned with the College's fine architecture. A blur of green and red sprouts at the bottom of the wall - flowers. In a handsome period hardwood frame. Condition: very good. -
Sir George Gilbert Scott FRIBA Girls' School Harrogate
Watercolour 53 x 96 cm Signed to the lower right. Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811–1878) is one of the most influential British architects of the 19th century, renowned for his mastery of the Gothic Revival style. His work shaped the skylines of Britain, from the breathtaking Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras to the majestic Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens. A prolific designer, he restored countless medieval churches and cathedrals, leaving an indelible mark on the nation’s heritage. Though his restorations were sometimes controversial, his passion for craftsmanship and historical preservation cemented his legacy. Knighted in 1872, Scott’s influence extended beyond his lifetime, inspiring generations of architects, including his own descendants. This charming watercolour rendering of a girls' school in Harrogate, attributed to Sir George Gilbert Scott, beautifully showcases the elegance and functionality of late Victorian institutional architecture. Constructed in warm red brick, the building features a symmetrical façade with long, well-proportioned wings extending from a grand central entrance, which is accentuated by a stately staircase and a delicate cupola. Large sash windows ensure ample natural light, while dormer windows suggest attic spaces, possibly for boarding or study. The leftmost section, with its turreted and fortified appearance, hints at Scott’s Gothic Revival influences, while subtle Tudor-style details in the brickwork and gables add a sense of historical continuity. The surrounding landscape, with neatly arranged pathways and groups of students, enhances the sense of purpose and refinement. This architectural vision seamlessly blends beauty with practicality, embodying the era’s dedication to education and progress. -
Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912 - 2004)
Card for Sandra Blow's 75th birthday (1995)
Gouache and collage 34 x 21 cm Inscribed to reverse "For Sandra, Happy Birthday, with love Willie, 13/9/95". Barns-Graham's modern design features 70 vividly coloured circles; each one is different from the last, but all are geometrically aligned in neat rows and columns. Sandra Blow's initials appear separately as "S" and "B" in the design. Blow and Barns-Graham became friends in the 1950s; both spent lengthy periods of time in St Ives, and made major contributions to Britain's catalogue of post-war art. Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, known as Willie, was born in St Andrews, Fife, on 8 June 1912. Her parents were second cousins, and their respective families were well established representatives of minor Scottish gentry from both the east and west of the country. As a child, Barns-Graham showed very early signs of creative ability. It was at school that Wilhelmina decided that she wanted to be an artist, stating later in life that "painting chose me, not I it". After school she set her sights on Edinburgh College of Art where, after some dispute with her father (who was an emotional man prone to uncontrolled anger), she enrolled in 1931. During her time at Edinburgh College, Barns-Graham was taught by tutors including portrait painter David Alison and painter William MacTaggart. Her friends there included the influential Scottish painters Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun, and William Gear. After her education, Barns-Graham made study trips to Paris, London, and St Tropez before moving to St Ives, Cornwall, in 1940 (at the suggestion of the Edinburgh College of Art's Principal Hubert Wellington). Barns-Graham moved near to where a group of modernist artists had settled, at Carbis Bay - this was a pivotal moment in her life. On one of her first evenings there she met the sculptor Barbara Hepworth, who made an immediate and lasting impression on her. She then went on to meet Borlase Smart, Alfred Wallis, and Bernard Leach, as well as the painter Ben Nicholson and the sculptors Naum Gabo and Margaret Mellis. After two weeks in St Ives, Barns-Graham acquired her first studio, directly below the Porthmeor Gallery which was the administrative headquarters of the St Ives Society of Artists. Her paintings at the time were heavily influenced by the Cornish landscapes and the St Ives harbour. During 1940 and 1941, Barns-Graham contributed to the war effort by volunteering in a factory making camouflage nets. In 1942 Barns-Graham became a member of the Newlyn Society of Artists, in which she exhibited with every year, and the St Ives Society of Artists. Whilst establishing herself in St Ives, Barns-Graham also continued to send work back to Scotland for major exhibitions held there such as the Royal Scottish Academy's 117th Exhibition in 1943. The 1940s were an active time for the St Ives Society of Artists who received a number of invitations to send exhibitions and groups of works to galleries in the UK and abroad, Barns-Graham's work was always included in these as the Society's secretary, Borlase Smart, thought highly of her work. Barns-Graham's first opportunity to exhibit in London came when her work was included in a group exhibition of six at the Redfern Gallery. This was due to the introduction and support of Patrick Heron, who had visited Barns-Graham's studio in St Ives and was excited by her work. Barns-Graham would later have her first one-person exhibition in London at Redfern in 1952. After a few years of tension, Barns-Graham eventually left the St Ives Society of Artists in 1949, becoming one of the founding members of a new breakaway group named Penwith Society of Arts. The first Penwith Society exhibition opened in June 1949 to huge success - 2755 paying visitors came to see it. Provenance: the Jonathan Grimble Estate; the Sandra Blow Estate. Condition: very good; in original frame. If you’d like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
John Anderson Bell (1809-1865)
King's College Cambridge Chapel Interior
Signed and indistinctly dated Watercolour c. 1840 53x39cm Bell was born in Glasgow; his father was James Bell, advocate and his sister Jane Cross Simpson the hymn-writer and poet. Following Edinburgh University Bell spent 1829 and 1830 in Rome as an art student, returning to the UK to serve his articles as an architect with Rickman & Hutchinson, the gothic revivalist practice in Birmingham. Subsequently he practised in Edinburgh, designing country houses, and the Victoria Buildings in Glasgow for the Conservative politician Archibald Orr Ewing in Scottish baronial style. Thirty of the engravings in John Le Keux's magnificent 1847 book Memorials of Cambridge are from paintings by Bell; this particular painting is believed to have been painted at the same time, although not published. The Great East Window depicted in the painting was created between 1526 and 1531 by Gaylon Hone and three partners (one Flemish and two English) and - together with the other sixteen they made - represent some of the finest stained glass of their period. Here Bell has captured the colours and the light of the window in almost magical fashion. It is an interesting view as it records the chapel in the mid nineteenth century. In 1968 the installation of Rubens' the Adoration of the Magi as an altarpiece involved the lowering of the Sanctuary floor through removal of the steps clearly visible in Bell's view and also removal of the seventeenth century panelling around the walls. It is still felt that the chapel would have been better left 'unimproved' and without the Reubens, though the form recorded by Bell had itself been improved in 1906 when Detmar Blow designed a reredos. Blow's reredos remains in storage in the College. The East window may be viewed in high resolution in the series of seven short films - accompanied by music by King's alumnus Francis Grier - entitled Sword in the Soul. -
Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) Bottle and Statue Oil on board c. 1947 38 x 46cm A distinctive still life featuring bottle, statue, and drapery. Terry Frost was a prominent British abstract artist. Frost is most noted for his simplistic abstract forms and unusual colour; he worked alongside the St Ives group and as Barbara Hepworth's assistant for several years, his artistic style being heavily influenced by them. In 1992 he became a Royal Academician, and he was made Sir Terry Frost in 1998. Bottle and Statue highlights Frost's unique compositional skill. His brushwork makes the statue seem like a real nude, who, framed by turquoise and ochre draperies, examines the still life in the foreground. An early work, painted shortly after the War and prior to his adoption of abstraction. For other works by Frost and biographical details please click here. Condition: A little craquelure in the oil above the statue's head. -
Cyril Kenneth Bird ‘Fougasse’ (1887 - 1965)
Careless Talk Costs Lives (circa 1940)
Lithographic Poster Collection 31 x 40 cm each [62 x 80 cm overall]"Strictly between you and me..."; "...but for Heaven's sake, don't say I told you!"; "Don't forget the walls have ears!" - This collection of posters brings together a series of Fougasse's snappy slogans, all to the backdrop of various Hitlers hiding under tables, melding with the wallpaper, and even replacing the historical figures in the traditional portrait featured. Through this public information messaging, Fougasse aimed to remind his contemporaries not to discuss secrets which may be of use to the enemy. Fougasse was a British cartoonist. He was art editor of Punch between 1937 and 1949, and subsequently editor until 1953. He is best known for his ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ series of posters, and the other posters for the Ministry of Information and London Transport. As the Second World War progressed, the Ministry of Information’s poster campaign had become less and less effective. There were posters instructing the population to save old clothes for rags, turn off the lights, save food, dig for victory, watch out for spies, and keep calm and carry on. With this instruction overload, the population had ceased paying attention to the posters. Fougasse noticed this, and offered his services unpaid to the Ministry of Information, with a view to bringing a touch of humour to the posters. His amusing designs with pithy captions, reminiscent of newspaper cartoons, helped to get the Ministry's messages across in a novel way. Fougasse's distinctive poster style, with the red border, was subsequently adopted by other Ministry artists.Condition: Very good; slight age toning. This is the version on thin paper. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other works by the artist. -
Louis Osman (1914 - 1996)
Proposal for St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Pencil, pen, watercolour, &c. Five drawings: two on paper, 53 x 43 cm; three on board, 55 x 76 cm Provenance: artist's studio sale A set of unrealised architectural proposals for a brutalist extension of St Edmund Hall, circa 1960s. Osman imagined a tall cantilevered tower in the midst of the quadrangle, which would have been a striking interjection to the college's medieval fabric; other prominent features include a top-floor common room with a picture-window giving onto the Oxford skyline, a vaulted underground theatre, and a suite of well-appointed student accommodation. Condition: good, with occasional handling marks. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other works by the artist. -
John Piper (1903 - 1992)
Radcliffe Camera
Lithograph 53 x 35.5 cm Numbered 110/1150 lower left and signed lower right in pencil. John Piper's view of the Radcliffe Camera in Radcliffe Square. John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. Condition: very good. Attractively framed; frame included for mainland UK shipping only. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other views of Oxford. -
Edwin La Dell ARA (1914-1970) Emmanuel College Cambridge Signed Watercolour46x32cm (18.11 X 12.6 in)
In fine original hand-finished painted frame.
Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.ukor call us on 07929 749056. -
George Pyne (1800-1884)
Great Court, Trinity College, Cambridge
Signed G Pyne 1850 Watercolour 20.5 x 29 cm (8 x 11.5 in.) It appears Pyne spent some time painting in Cambridge in 1849-50. This is - for Pyne - an unusually large composition; a fine watercolour of Trinity Great Court, with King’s College chapel in the background and elegant figures in the court. It is a particularly pleasing composition. Click here for biographical details and other works by the artist. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
George Pyne (1800 - 1884)
Peckwater Quad, Christ Church, Oxford
Watercolour 27.5 x 17.5 cm Signed and dated 1849. A marvellous view of the Peckwater Quadrangle, more affectionately referred to as Peck Quad and known for having arguably the best undergraduate rooms in all of Oxford. The buildings on the north, east and west sides of the quad were designed by Henry Aldrich are one of the earliest examples of English neo-Palladian architecture. They were built by William Townsend between 1706 and 1711, while the Library on the south side was completed later in the eighteenth century. Peck looks rather different today - it is now mostly filled with lawn and hosts Christ Church's extremely large Christmas tree each year. In Pyne's day it was lawnless and filled with elegant pedestrians in nineteenth-century costume; in this view, afternoon light slants down over the buildings, and the lengthening shadows cast by the library creep into the quad. George Pyne was related to two founders of the Society of Painters in Watercolours - William Henry Pyne was his father, and John Varley his father-in-law. Pyne trained as an architectural draughtsman and lived in Oxford from the 1850s until his death in 1884, specialising in views of the city and its colleges. His Oxford pictures are both architecturally-minded and romantically creative, often combining intensely detailed depictions of college buildings with imagined pedestrian scenes. Pyne was also noted for his views of Cambridge and Eton, and for his drawing manuals 'A Rudimentary and Practical Treatise on Perspective for Beginners' (1848) and 'Practical Rules on Drawing for the Operative Builder, and Young Student in Architecture' (1854); the latter texts offer an insight into his method of depicting architecture and its surroundings. Condition: very good. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for other views of Christ Church. -
Crest Mill, Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire (1906)
Watercolour 56 x 96 cm Crest Mill in Castleton, Rochdale, was built in 1906. It was designed by Sir Philip Sidney Stott, the English architect, civil engineer and surveyor. Crest Mill was demolished long ago. The mill engines were sent to the United States, but the ship carrying them sank in the Atlantic. Scott's mill chimneys all had two distinctive bands towards the top. Stott was born in Chadderton, Lancashire, and joined the family firm of architects upon leaving school. In 1883, he set up his own business, P. S. Stott, specialising in the design of cotton mills - he designed 22 mills in Oldham and 55 elsewhere in the county, plus many more in Europe, India and the Far East, amounting to 124 in total. He became a baronet in 1920, and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Architects and a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He was a significant figure in Lancashire mills, being responsible for 40% of the spindles laid down in Oldham between 1887 and 1914, and 44% of the increase in Lancashire's spinning capacity between 1887 and 1925. He retired a wealthy man having accumulated shares in the mills he designed. Condition: generally very good; some slight staining marks to mount, and possible faint time staining in areas. If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. Click here for more architectural perspectives. -
A. E. Halliwell (1905-1987) The Boat Race
Gouache 32 x 50 cm Initialled and dated Dec 1928 lower right A.E. Halliwell (1905–1986) was a British artist, illustrator, and designer best known for his vibrant poster designs created for British railway companies during the mid-20th century. Born in Southport, Halliwell developed a strong foundation in art and design early in life. He studied at the Southport School of Art from 1923 to 1926 before graduating to the Royal College of Art in London and subsequently practising as a professional designer from the 1930s. Following his studies, Halliwell married Doris Doyle in Strood Kent, and went on to have a significant teaching career himself, most notably as a lecturer at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (later part of Central Saint Martins), where he influenced a new generation of designers and illustrators. Halliwell is perhaps best remembered for his vibrant and engaging poster designs created for British railway companies during the 1930s. His work was characterised by a bright, graphic style that balanced charm with clarity, often depicting idealised scenes of British holiday destinations—from sunny seaside towns to tranquil countryside vistas. Beyond posters, his artistic output included book illustration, commercial design, and stage costume sketches, showcasing his versatility across mediums. His posters continue to remain enduring symbols of a golden age of British travel and design and are displayed in major collections including the London Transport Museum and the V & A. This dynamic poster design by A.E. Halliwell captures the intensity of the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race with a bold aerial perspective of the two rowing crews slicing through stylised blue and white water--Oxford in dark blue on the left, Cambridge in light blue on the right. The rhythmic composition and simplified forms emphasise speed, coordination, and competition, using a limited colour palette to striking modernist effect. Condition: Generally very good.If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.
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Rev. William Henry Barnard (Co. Donegal or Co. Derry 1767-1818 London) The Radcliffe Camera from the Great Quadrangle of All Souls College, Oxford
Pen and brown ink and watercolour, on paper 30 x 44 cm Signed with initials 'H.B.' (lower right) Rev William Henry Barnard was an extremely well-connected artist and clergyman -being first cousin of Prime Minister George Canning, grandson of William Barnard, Bishop of Derry, and nephew of Thomas Barnard, Dean of Derry and Bishop of Limerick. He graduated from Pembroke College, Oxford in 1797. During his time at university he studied drawing with John Baptist Malchair (1731 – 1812) and produced numerous drawings and watercolours, often depicting humble Oxford street scenes using a black monochrome wash. He is now represented in a number of important collections. TATE acquired twelve of his paintings in 1996 and a drawing by Barnard of Windsor Castle was purchased for the Royal Collection in 1947. This watercolour depicts a view of the Radcliffe Camera from the great quadrangle of All Souls College, Oxford. It demonstrates a strong sense of architectural perspective as Barnard expertly captures the angles and masonry of the baroque architecture. In keeping with Barnard's tendency to capture humble Oxford street scenes, this loftier rendering of this Oxford landmark still presents gardeners and academics alongside each other. He thereby adeptly depicts everyday life in this Oxford college in the early Eighteenth Century. Provenance: The Collection of the Late John Appleby: A Channel Island. Condition: Generally very good, comes framed.If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.
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Gideon Yates (?1790-?1840)
1831 View on The Thames with London Bridge from the East Side showing Fishmonger's Hall, The Church of St Magnus the Martyr and St. Paul's Cathedral.
c.1831 29x54cm Watercolour unsigned Provenance: The Parker Gallery LIttle is known of the life of Yates. Even his date of death is disputed with some sources putting it at 1837. What is known is that he spent most of his working life in London, producing many detailed views of The Thames such as this one. His style is very distinctive, and this large and impressive view of London Bridge is a typical view. He is thought to have lived in Lancaster in 1811, and to have travelled widely throughout Britain and the Continent. His works are in public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum. In this view, Thames barges are in the foreground with their distinctive brown sails. A steamship proceeds along the middle of The Thames. The first steamboat patented was in 1729, by John Allen an English physician. However it was not until 1783 that the first steam-powered ship, "Pyroscaphe," was demonstrated on the River Saône. By 1788 John Fitch in Philadelphia was operating a commercial service along the Delaware River were built in the United States. The first sea-going steamboat was the "Experiment" built by Richard Wright in 1813; by this point river services were becoming well established although it was not until 1815 that The Thames acquired its first successful services with "Margery" and "Thames" arriving from the Clyde where they had been in service for some years. Margate and Gravesend were the main destinations. The steamboat in this view is a paddlesteamer, with two side wheels. At the north end of London Bridge (on the far side from the viewer) is Fishmongers' Hall, St Magnus the Martyr Church is visible on the near side of the bridge, and St Paul's Cathedral is visible beyond. UK Government Art Collection item 6701 is another view of The Thames by Yates, also from The Parker Gallery. If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056. -
Ernest Wallcousins (1882-1976) Keep Calm and Carry On (Small size)
Ministry of Information Lithographic poster, 1939 37 x 25 cm ('Crown Folio' size) Very rare - we have traced copies in the Imperial War Museum collection but no other public collection. Provenance: part of a small stock of posters cleared from a police station in Suffolk in the 1940s. These posters were generally sent out to police stations in groups of six or twelve. Shortly after the war, during a clear-out of the police station, these posters were put aside to be disposed of. A young police constable requested permission to take them home, and permission was granted. They spent the following nearly eight decades, surviving house moves and a long-suffering wife, sitting in a drawer. Following the policeman's death, his family have allowed the posters to be sold. As the small stock of posters at this police station came in all three sizes (small at 38 x 25 cm; medium at 38 x 50 cm; large at 75 x 50 cm) we are able to offer all three for sale today. An instantly-recognisable brand today, this poster was reserved for use in the event of the German invasion. Once it became obvious that they were not going to invade, these posters were sent back for recycling. As they were never used, the survivors are incredibly rare. Of public collections only the Imperial War Museum – which has a very extensive collection of wartime posters – has a copy of this poster. The story of the poster is well known these days, but bears repeating. In 1939, with invasion an ever-present threat, HM Government commissioned three posters with snippets designed to encourage the population. Bearing a crown at the top, it was clearly intended to be a message from the King: “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution, Will Bring Us Victory” was displayed widely, with hundreds of thousands being printed; similarly “Freedom is in Peril Defend it with all Your Might.” The third poster – “Keep Calm and Carry On” – was distributed, but was to be held back and only used in the event of invasion. In the event the poster campaign was not a great success, with the people regarding it as an instruction from the powers-that-be that it was the people, not the leaders, who were going to be the ones doing the hard work. As the invasion never happened, Hitler’s armies being otherwise occupied elsewhere in the world, and the Spitfire achieving victory in the Battle of Britain, the Keep Calm posters were never used. Owing to the shortage of raw materials, the paper was recycled and there the story should have ended. However, in 2000, the owner of Barter Books in Alnwick discovered a copy of the poster in the bottom of a box of books. They hung it up in their shop and started producing reproductions, and the poster has become an internationally recognised image, reproduced on mugs, t-shirts, and adapted into such uplifting slogans as “Keep Calm and Drink Tea”. The artist, Wallcousins, was an illustrator, official war artist of the Second World War, and painted the official victory portrait of Winston Churchill. A much more successful series of propaganda was created by ‘Fougasse’ – Cyril Bird. Picture editor of Punch from 1937-1949, then editor until 1953, he noted that the best sort of advertising would make people smile. He worked unpaid for the Ministry of Information during the war, producing cartoons with a short word of advise. His Careless Talk Costs Lives series of posters are amongst the most famous of the propaganda campaigns of the Second World War.