‘A Mother and Child’ by Frank Holl R.A. (1845-1888). The painting is signed by the artist and dated 1863.

The first major work by the eminent Royal Academician Frank Holl, painted whilst still a student at the Royal Academy Schools, ‘A Mother and Child’ was exhibited in London and subsequently purchased by the important Victorian art collector William Whitworth Schofield. In ‘A Mother and Child’ the destitute pair shelter in the narthex of a grand church in London’s West End. In her biography of the artist, Frank Holl’s daughter, Ada Reynolds reveals the model to have been Old Hanover Chapel on Regent Street which was demolished in 1896.

Visible in the background is the spire of the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, which was no doubt chosen by Holl very deliberately. It’s patron saint, Martin of Tours, was known as ‘Martin the Merciful’ for his deeds of charity. Whilst a soldier in the Roman army he was said to have come across a beggar dying of cold and impulsively cut his military cloak in half to share it with the freezing man.

Between 1864 and his premature death in 1888, Frank Holl exhibited 87 paintings at the Royal Academy in London and was elected a Royal Academician in 1883. Vincent van Gogh – today arguably the most famous painter in the world – considered Frank Holl to be a modern master, and whilst living in London fastidiously cut out and collected Holl’s engravings published in The Graphic magazine. Everyone even remotely interested in art should take some time to read the fascinating letters of Van Gogh (sent to his brother Theo and friend Anthon van Rappard). One name mentioned reverentially again and again is that of Frank Holl.

Dimensions: (framed) 74cm x 64m (29” x 25”)

Dimensions: (canvas only) 56cm x 45cm (22” x 18”)

Medium: Oil on canvas.

Provenance: 1863, exhibited in London where purchased by Schofield. 1876, The Art Journal, p.9. 1882, Schofield sale, Christie's, lot 133, as ‘The Flower-Seller’, purchased by Scott for £54.15s. 1885, ‘Dictionary of National Biography’ mentioned in the entry on Frank Holl, p.135. 1912, ‘The Life and Work of Frank Holl R.A.’ by A.M. Reynolds, p.20-p.21. Circa 1958, Purchased in Lancaster. 1988, Private collection, Wilmslow, Manchester. Sold at Tennants, Yorkshire 2004. Thence in private UK collection.

Presentation: Fine gold metal leaf swept frame.

Condition: Excellent. Newly professionally cleaned and re-varnished. Ready to hang.