Algernon Newton (1880-1968)
Study for Clare College, Cambridge
Pencil and chalk on paper, squared for transfer
15 x 28 cm
Algernon Newton was a British landscape artist, known informally as the ‘Canaletto of the canals.’ Newton studied at Clare College, Cambridge in 1899, deciding however at the end of his final year to leave university and pursue a professional career as an artist. He went on to serve in the army during the First World War and began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1919. He also enjoyed a successful international career, exhibiting alongside Picasso, Braque and Chagall in the Carnegie International Exhibition of Painting at Pittsburgh in 1938. In 1926 and 1934, he was also one of the esteemed artists chosen to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale of Art.
This study was produced in preparation for the artist’s 1946 oil painting of the same subject, shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition the following year. It depicts a view of the Backs, looking over Clare College and King’s College, with the chapel figuring prominently in the centre of the study. Algernon’s work process is intriguing and the piece has been squared for transfer.
Condition: Generally very good, squared for transfer, pinholes and short tear in the bottom left hand corner.