Antique Oil Painting By Henry Thomas Alken (1781-1851) Spooky Hearse

Description: Spooky British School Antique Oil Painting by very well listed artist Henry Thomas Alken (1781-1851) who specialized in equestrian subjects. Unsigned. Halloween Hearse races toward the viewer. Art is 16” x 20” and frame is approximately 20” x 24” - Born: 1785 - London, England Known for: Equestrian genre painting, engraving, miniatures Henry Thomas Alken (1785-1951), was the most famous member of the Alken family. He was a true master draftsman and as comfortable in the medium of oil and watercolor as he was engraving. His hunting and racing prints disseminated his work far and wide through the 1820s and 1830s making him a household name. Often humorous, his prints gently satirised the eccentricities of the upper classes at play. An avid sportsman himself, it is the character which shines through his paintings that is particularly charming. The present lot shows two works, The Meet and The Kill, most probably from a set of four which follow a hunt from beginning to end. Generally this will include The Meet, showing the riders and hounds gathering. Here, we can see what looks like the master of the hunt arriving by carriage to the left of the picture, another carriage is visible in the distance. Next, we might have ‘Breaking Cover’ where the fox has been forced into the open by the hounds. Next, we will have ‘In Full Cry’, depicting the high drama of the hounds and the riders galloping full pelt after their quarry. The final part is The Kill, which, in varying degrees of gruesome realism, depicts the moment the hounds catch up with fox and the ride is over. There is always so much detail in Alken’s paintings, so much observation has gone into the composition – every rider is an individual and every horse expresses an attitude, their heads full of personality. At the start of the hunt, the horses are portrayed a little skittishly - they are stomping, turning their heads; the riders are forced to rein them in, curbing their impatience for the off. The hounds sniff the ground or play, waiting for the command. Contrast this to 'The Kill' - the horses look tired, steam shooting out of their nostrils, the viewer can feel their exertion. The riders lean back in their saddles, one lights a cigar. The hounds are all attention, circling the fox expectantly, some latecomers bounding in. He has such a lightness of touch; there is a fluidity in the application of the paint which makes them look fresh and effortless. The proportions and physiognomy of the animals is so well observed, and it is these qualities that have given his paintings such enduring appeal. Biography from RoGallery A keen huntsman, Henry Alken painted in both oil and watercolor what he loved best: hunting and coaching scenes. The most famous of the Alken family of painters, Henry was born in London in 1785. He was also an engraver, caricaturist and illustrator. His most prolific period of painting and drawing occurred between 1816 and 1831. Alken was born in Soho, London, and was the third son of Samuel Alken, a sporting artist. Two of his brothers were artists; George, Samuel Jr., and Sefferien John. Young Henry first studied under his father and then with the miniature painter John Thomas Barber Beaumont (1774-1841), also known as J.T. Barber. Alken began exhibiting at the Royal Academy as a young man, the first time being in 1801 with a miniature portrait. Early in his career, he painted sporting subjects under the name of "Ben Tallyho", but in 1816 he created The Beauties & Defects in the Figure of the Horse, using his own name. From that time until about 1831, he produced many sets of etchings of sporting subjects mostly coloured and sometimes humorous. His soft-ground etchings were often colored by hand. Married to Maria Gordon, he fathered five children, two of whom were artists: Samuel Henry, also a sporting artist and known as Henry Alken junior, and Sefferien junior. Henry Alken died in April 1851 and was buried in Highgate cemetery. Though fairly affluent during most of his career, he fell on hard times towards the end of his life and was buried at his daughter's expense. A collection of his illustrations can be seen in the print department of the British Museum. Sources: Wikipedia/Henry Thomas Alken The National Sports of Greta Britain: Fifty Engravings with Descriptions by Henry Thomas Aiken. Nimrod, The Life of a Sportsman Pierce Egan, Real Life in London or The Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho Henry Alken, The Art and Practice of Etching

Price: 3250 USD

Location: New York, New York

End Time: 2024-12-19T00:29:34.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD