‘The Arrest of Father Curtis’ by Robert Alexander Hillingford (1825-1904). The painting – which depicts occupying French soldiers serving the hero of the Catalan resistance Don Patricio Cortés with his arrest warrant – is signed by the artist and is presented in its original 19th century giltwood frame. Academy Fine Paintings is fully conversant with the legal exemptions which, under the supreme law of the U.S. Constitution, enable us to ship paintings to America free of reciprocal trade tariffs. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is always complimentary. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. During the Peninsular War - fought between the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte and the British Army under General Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) allied with Portuguese and Spanish guerillas – numerous priests played an important role in undermining French occupation. Foremost among these was Father Patrick Curtis (1740-1832), an Irish priest and professor at the University of Salamanca, who acted as Wellington’s spymaster and invaluable ally. Following his arrest in 1811, Father Curtis, aka Don Patricio Cortés, was imprisoned by the French and only narrowly avoided execution. He returned to Ireland in 1813 where, upon the recommendation of his friend the Duke of Wellington, he was made Primate of All Ireland by the Pope. An extensive account of the life and work of the artist Robert Alexander Hillingford can be found at the News & Articles page of the Academy Fine Paintings website. Dimensions: (framed) 60cm x 74cm (23½” x 29”). Dimensions: (canvas only) 47cm x 61cm (18½” x 24”). Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: Circa 1920; Roaman’s Gallery. Circa 1950; Galerie George, 96-98 George Street, London. Thence in private UK collection. Presentation: Bespoke gold metal swept leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.

‘The Harpsichord’ by Robert James Gordon RBA (1849-1895). The painting – which depicts a flautist accompanying a young woman at Pascal Taskin’s famous chinoiserie harpsichord – is signed by the artist and was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1891. Academy Fine Paintings is fully conversant with the legal exemptions which, under the supreme law of the U.S. Constitution, enable us to ship paintings to America free of reciprocal trade tariffs. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is always complimentary. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Pascal-Joseph Taskin (1723-1793) was instrument maker to King Louis XVI of France and the ornate japanned harpsicord featured in the painting is thought to have been made for Marie Antoinette’s eight-year-old daughter Marie Thérèse. The Taskin harpsichord is now in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London having been purchased from a Parisian dealer in 1869 by the museum’s first director Henry Cole (1808-1882). Between 1871 and his death in 1895, Robert James Gordon exhibited 22 paintings at the Royal Academy (‘The Harpsicord’ being one of those), and 88 with the Royal Society of British Artists where he was elected a full member in 1876. Gordon's membership of the R.B.A. predated the appointment of James Whistler as President in 1886 but as the correspondence of Whistler confirms, James Gordon’s work was in harmony with its President in that it sought to “render natural beauty by methods as legitimate and as personal as those of Mr. Whistler”. Robert James Gordon also exhibited at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and Manchester City Art Gallery. Dimensions: (framed) 122cm x 104cm (48” x 41”). Dimensions: (canvas only) 105cm x 87cm (41¼” x 34¼”). Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1891; Royal Academy Exhibition, London (cat. No.268). Thence in private UK collection. Presentation: Bespoke gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.

‘Parley at Bristol, 1643’ by Charles Cattermole RI, RBA, ROI (1834-1900). The painting – which depicts the surrender of Parliamentary forces under Nathaniel Fiennes to Prince Rupert of the Rhine during the English Civil War - is signed by the artist and newly mounted behind Museum glass© in a fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Charles Cattermole was one of the most gifted and successful watercolour painters of historical subjects in 19^th century Britain. From 1858 he exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists (to which he was elected Member in 1876), the New Watercolour Society (elected Member in 1870), the Royal Institute (elected Member in 1870), the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (elected Member in 1883), the Royal Society of Artists in Birmingham, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Today, paintings by Charles Cattermole are held in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Sydney Art Gallery in Australia. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having undergone professionally restoration. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 75cm x 108cm (29½” x 42½”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 58cm x 91cm (23” x 36”) Medium: Gouache and watercolour on paper laid to board. Provenance: Private UK collection. Presentation: Fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Excellent. Professionally restored, reglazed and framed. Ready to hang.

‘The Golden Egg’ by Richard Morton Paye F.S.A. (1750-1820). The painting – which depicts the moment the young lovers in Thomas Dibdin’s Georgian pantomime discover the solid gold egg laid by the magical bird gifted to them by Mother Goose – dates to circa 1810 and hangs in a bespoke gold metal leaf frame. During the past two centuries the painting has been attributed to both Joseph Wright of Derby and Sir Joshua Reynolds but now, following its recent rediscovery, it can finally be identified as the work of Richard Morton Paye; the theme, draftsmanship, and tenebrous composition all being typical of the artist, one of the most gifted and innovative painters of the early English School. ‘Harlequin and Mother Goose; or The Golden Egg’ was first performed at the Covent Garden Theatre in London on Boxing Day, 1806 and became the first great pantomime success of the 19th century. When the story begins a poor local girl called Colinette is about to be married against her will to the wicked Squire Bugle, played by the famous clown Joey Grimaldi. When Mother Goose intervenes, the Squire accuses her of witchcraft and she is sentenced to the ducking stool. When Colinette’s lover Colin defends Mother Goose she gifts him a bird that lays a solid gold egg. The characters are then all transformed into those of the Italian Commedia dell’arte, with the lovers becoming Harlequin and Columbine. A contemporary (and rival) of Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Morton Paye was an innovative and skilful painter of subject pictures, often featuring children. Despite exhibiting 64 times at the Royal Academy, between 1773 and 1802, illness and other misfortunes cost Paye lasting fame. Even during his own lifetime his work – which he invariably left unsigned – was attributed to and sold as the work of other artists such as Diego Velázquez, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, John Hoppner, and Joseph Wright of Derby. It is one of these paintings that we now offer for sale. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 99cm x 122cm (39” x 48”). Dimensions: (canvas only) 87cm x 110cm (34” x 43”). Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: Historically attributed to Joseph Wright of Derby. 1993, Sotheby’s, London (as “Circle of Sir Joshua Reynolds”). 2021, Bonhams, London. Presentation: Bespoke gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.  

‘Amor et Pietas’ by Ursula Wood S.W.A. (1868-1956). The painting – which depicts a group of children laying to rest their pet dog – is signed and dated by the artist. Ursula Wood’s masterpiece, ‘Amor et Pietas’ (‘Love and Compassion’ in Latin) was exhibited at the Royal Academy and at the prestigious Victorian Era Exhibition at Earl’s Court in 1897. It hangs in a newly commissioned gold metal leaf Aesthetic Movement frame. More about the painting, and the life and career of Ursula Wood, can be found at the News & Articles  page. Ursula Wood trained at St. John's Wood Art School under William Frederick Yeames and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, before entering the Royal Academy Schools. In 1889, during her time as a student at Burlington House, she won the Turner Medal, the first time the honour had ever been awarded to a woman. A superb painter of landscapes, interiors, and especially figures Ursula Wood began exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1890 and would go on to do so for the next three decades. Between 1890 and 1922 Ursula Wood exhibited twenty-eight paintings at the Royal Academy and many others at the Society of Women Artists (of which she was a founder member), the Royal Scottish Academy, the Walker Gallery in Liverpool, Whitechapel Gallery, the Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, and the Victorian Era Exhibition. Today, works by Ursula Wood can be found in the British Museum and the Imperial War Museum in London, and at Manchester Art Gallery. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 200cm x 167cm (79” x 66”). Dimensions: (canvas only) 174cm x 144cm (x 68½” x 56¾”). Medium: Oil on canvas, laid to board. Provenance: Royal Academy Exhibition, London (cat. no.668); Victorian Era Exhibition, Earl’s Court, London, 1897 (cat. no.197); private collection of East Down Manor, Devonshire. Presentation: Newly commissioned gold metal leaf Aesthetic Movement frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.

‘Diana Nemorensis’ by Max Nonnenbruch (1857-1922). The painting – which depicts the Goddess Diana of the Woods beside Lake Nemi – is signed by the artist and presented in its original antique gold leaf neoclassical frame. The sacred temple of Diana Nemorensis stood just outside Rome in dense woodland surrounding Lake Nemi. Famous for its great beauty the lake lies in an ancient volcanic crater known as ‘Diana’s Mirror’. The emperor Caligula was a supporter of the Cult of Diana Nemorensis and had his two famous Nemi ships (two floating palaces) built on the lake. Max Nonnenbruch studied in the academies of Düsseldorf and Munich before enrolling at the Académie Julian in Paris. Nonnenbruch’s ethereal compositions contain many elements of the European Symbolist movement but as his career and technique developed his work became more closely allied to the elegant Greco-Roman school of the great English Olympian painters Lord Leighton and Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema; his figure painting in particular being every bit the equal of their contemporary John William Godward. The artist exhibited many times in Munich and Berlin as well as at the Galerie Heinemann in Nice. In 1892 he played an important role at the International Art Exhibition at the Munich Glaspalast. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 108cm x 78cm (42½” x 30½”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 90cm x 60cm (35½” x 23½”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: Private French collection. Presentation: Fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.  

‘Melancholic Sappho’ by Arthur Hill RBA (1841-1908). The painting – which depicts the celebrated poet of Ancient Greece appealing to the Goddess Aphrodite, with the Parthenon on the Hill of the Muses above the city of Athens in the background – is signed by the artist, dated 1877, and further inscribed to the stretcher verso. It is presented in its original gold leaf Pre-Raphaelite frame. Known as ‘The Tenth Muse’ Sappho of Lesbos was one of the greatest lyric poets of Greek antiquity famous for her love poetry and in particular ‘Ode to Aphrodite’ in which Sappho herself appeals to the Greek goddess to fly from Olympus in her chariot drawn by doves to advise her in affairs of the heart. It is this moment depicted in the current work. When the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy it was hung with the following quote from Psalm 55; “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!”. Arthur Hill became a pupil at the Royal Academy Schools in 1863 and made his debut at the Summer Exhibition the following year. A contemporary of Frederick Leighton (1830-1896), Lawrence Alma Tadema (1836-1912), and Edward John Poynter (1836-1919), Hill was one of several important late Victorian artists known as ‘Olympians’ owing to their fondness for portraying scenes from classical antiquity. Between 1864 and 1893 Arthur Hill exhibited the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the British Institution, the Royal Birmingham Society, Glasgow Institute, Manchester City Art Gallery, and the Walker Gallery in Liverpool. Arthur Hill was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1881. Seven years later, in May 1888, Hill was one of ‘The Fiendish Party” of members (that also included Alfred Stevens, George Percy Jacomb Hood, and James Jebusa Shannon) who demanded that James Whistler resign his presidency of the RBA. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 129cm x 88cm (50¾” x 34¾”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 105cm x 67cm (41¼” x 26¼”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1877: Royal Academy Exhibition, London (cat no. 154). Thence in private UK collection. Presentation: Fine quality gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.  

‘Awakening’ by Herbert James Draper (1863-1920). This monumental oil painting – which depicts two wood nymphs rising to meet the morning sun – is signed by the artist and dated 1918 in which year it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. In its review of the highlights of the 1918 Royal Academy Exhibition ‘The Connoisseur’ magazine praised the painting’s “grace and refinement” and in his 2003 book ‘Herbert Draper, a Life Study’, Simon Toll (Senior Director at Sotheby’s in London) further discusses the painting; the artist’s last great full-length painting of neoclassical nudes… “An enigmatic dryad is seated against the foot of an ancient tree. A naked bacchante sprawls on a leopard skin in a bestial pose consistent with the temperament of Bacchus’ worshippers. The painting depicts the morning after the night before, the post-coital slumber of the orgiastic reveller. Are the women abandoned like Ariadne, or are their latest lovers like those of the kelpie, submerged lifeless somewhere amongst the leave mounds? The bacchante emerges from the dried leaves, from which she has spent the night after the previous day’s drunken orgies.”  Herbert Draper entered the Royal Academy Schools in London in 1885, winning a silver medal for life drawing the following year. He first exhibited at the R.A. in 1887, and the following year won a travelling scholarship enabling him to complete his studies in Paris at the Académie Julian under Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger. In 1889 Draper won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and another scholarship, and spent much of 1890 travelling in Europe, visiting Spain and Italy. On his return to England, Draper found huge success with his paintings of mythological subjects, and he would go on to rival Lord Leighton and John William Waterhouse as one of England’s greatest painters of Academic Romanticism. Draper’s painting ‘The Lament for Icarus’, won the gold medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 and was purchased for the Tate Gallery in London in 1898. Academy Fine Paintings only offers artwork for sale in the finest condition it can be for its age, having been professionally cleaned, conserved, and re-varnished. Clients should also note that tracked and signed for international shipping is complimentary. Dimensions: (framed) 131cm x 229cm (51½” x 90”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 107cm x 205cm (42” x 80¾”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1918; exhibited as ‘Reveil’ at the Royal Academy in London (catalogue no.304). Thence in the private UK collection. Literature: 1918; ‘The Connoisseur’ magazine, vol.LI, p.115. 2003; ‘Herbert Draper 1863-1920: A Life Study’ by Simon Toll, pp.48, 163-164, 197, colour plate 52. Presentation: Fine quality bespoke gold metal leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Professionally cleaned, restored, and re-varnished. Ready to hang.  

‘News from the Front’ by Frederick Goodall R.A. H.R.I. (1822-1904). The painting – which depicts a diverse cross-section of Victorian figures gathered outside a post office as they receive news of the war in India – is signed by the artist and dated 1849-51. Goodall painted three versions of the present work; the larger, entitled ‘The Post Office’, was exhibited at the British Institution in 1850, whilst the smaller version is today in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 1862, an edition of The Art Journal recalled the paintings great popularity and discussed the figures portrayed; “In front of the door is a group of ‘village politicians’, foremost among whom is the barber whose business it is to gain the earliest intelligence of news that he may retail it to his customers: he holds in his hand a copy of The Times and is reading some war tidings of importance, for the word “Victory” appears on the broad sheet. The brawny figure with the bare arms is the blacksmith, owner of the wicked-looking bull terrier by his side. Nearer to the spectator is the ‘boots’ of the village inn who probably acts also as occasional ostler. The youth in a velveteen jacket is from the mansion and is come for the squire’s letters, and a boy with a board filled with fine fish completes the group. On the other side of the picture are two figures to whom that stolid, round-faced post-boy has brought anything but good tidings; a woman and her boy now in all probability the widow and the fatherless, an open letter with a black seal lies before them; it tells them the ‘victory’ has made them desolate. At least it may be presumed this is the artist’s intention, for the drum at the boy’s side may be taken to signify that he is a soldier’s son. In advance of these is another woman reading a letter to an old Chelsea pensioner and his wife. There is no sad intelligence in her epistle, her child may continue its gambol with the kitten unchecked by its mother whose hour of tribulation has not yet come”. A precocious talent, Frederick Goodall's first professional commission (aged just 16) came from the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and whilst still in his mid-20s he was already one of the most critically acclaimed and financially successful painters in Britain. Between 1838 and 1902 Frederick Goodall exhibited at all the principal London venues, most prominently at the Royal Academy on 165 occasions. Goodall was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1852, a full Royal Academician in 1863, and an Honorary member of the British Institution in 1867. Dimensions: (framed) 110cm x 138cm (43¼” x 54¼”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 89cm x 118cm (35” x 46½”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1860; ‘Artists, Sculptors & Architects’ exhibition in Paris. 1860s; with Vicars Brothers Ltd, London. Private collection of Sir Julian Goldsmid. 1896; Christie’s, where purchased by Nathan Mitchell, 18 Regents Park Road, London. 1901; exhibited in Sheffield. 1902; ‘French and English Painters of the 19th Century’ exhibition at the Guildhall in London. 1902 exhibited in Glasgow. 1972; sold at Bonhams, London. 1989; sold at Sotheby's, London. 1990: with Haynes Fine Art, Broadway. Thence in private UK collection. Presentation: Fine quality gold leaf frame. Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned and revarnished. Ready to hang.

'St. James' Day' by Richard Morton Paye (1750-1820). This large and exceptionally fine 18th century oil on canvas depicts a diverse crowd of Londoners at an oyster stand on a summer’s evening. The artist’s masterpiece, the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1788. The street festival of St. James’ Day commenced at midnight on August 5^th and was known as London’s ‘Oyster Day’. Much more about the long history and new restoration of this important Georgian painting can be seen in the accompanying film. Our article on the life and work of the artist is available at the News & Articles page. Richard Morton Paye was one of the most gifted and innovative painters of the early English School. ‘St. James’ Day’ is a wonderful record of life in London during the reign of King George III and is sold with provenance of ownership dating back over 240 years. The Festival of St. James’ Day Greengrocers rise at dawn of sun – August the fifth – come haste away! To Billingsgate the thousands run, – ‘Tis Oyster Day! – ’tis Oyster Day! The above verse is taken from a poem popular during the reign of King George III which captures the excitement surrounding the arrival of the season’s first oysters at Billingsgate Market in London. August 5^th marked the start of the oyster season in England and the celebrations – which included much drinking of alcohol as well the eating of oysters – began every year London at the stroke of midnight. About the Artist A contemporary (and rival) of Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, Richard Morton Paye was an innovative and skilful painter of scenes of everyday London life, often featuring children. Between 1773 and 1802 he exhibited 64 times at the Royal Academy, yet today, known works of his are few and far between. In ‘St. James’ Day’ Paye uses the opportunity to take out his frustration with patrons and the self-appointed connoisseurs of the London art world by lampooning both. In the background, to the left, a well-to-do gentleman is being accosted by a drunkard who humiliates him by pulling off his wig. New research into the painting has revealed the man to be the most powerful art collector of the age, John Julius Angerstein (1735-1823) of whom Richard Morton Paye was clearly not a fan. Meantime, to the lower right, a vicious dog is pictured stealing a chicken and written on its collar is the word “critick”. It is worth noticing that Paye was also capable of turning his acerbic wit upon himself. Seen on the far left, looking directly out at us, is the artist himself, distracted by public attention and clearly unaware that he is being robbed by a pickpocket. Dimensions: (framed) 127cm x 142cm (50” x 56”) Dimensions: (canvas only) 102cm x 119cm (40” x 43”) Medium: Oil on canvas. Provenance: 1788; purchased by William Clay, Esq. of Upper Gower Street. (1748-1824). 1824; purchased by Johnson at Christie’s 5^th June, lot 95. Julius Ernst Guthe, Kepwick Hall, Thirsk, North Yorkshire (1857-1917). Julius Ernst Guthe, Jr., Kepwick Hall, Thirsk, North Yorkshire (1885-1975). Digby J. E. Guthe, Silton Hall, Neither Silton, North Yorkshire (1927-1982). Thence by descent in private UK collection. Presentation: Newly commissioned bespoke gold metal leaf frame. All of the new frames we commission are especially made for us to order by one of the UK’s top period frame makers. Condition: Very good. Newly professionally cleaned, conserved and re-varnished. Ready to hang. We do not sell dirty, damaged or unframed works of art. Conservation: Professionally restored by Simon Gillespie Studio, as seen on BBC Television's 'Fake or Fortune' and 'Britain's Lost Masterpieces'.