TRAVELLERS RESTING ON A COUNTRY ROAD
Francis Wheatley RA (1747-1801)His career progressed rapidly. After only a year at the Royal Academy Schools he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Artists, and by 1772 was made Director of that body. At this time his work consisted mostly of small, full-length portraits and conversation pieces in the manner of Johan Zoffany. He also undertook commissions to paint the interiors of certain noblemen’s homes, including Brocket Hall for Lord Melbourne. During these years he developed what was to be his signature style of clear, pale colour handled in a free and sensitive manner.
Success however, led to profligacy. He accrued debts and had, in the words of Edward Edwards, “the folly to engage in an intrigue” with the wife of a fellow artist, John Alexander Gresse.3 In 1779 Wheatley fled to Ireland with Mrs Gresse, whom he passed off as his wife. Prior to this deception becoming known, Wheatly received several important portrait commissions in Ireland including The Macartney family (Art Gallery, Ontario) and The Marquess and Marchioness of Antrim (NGI). He also executed some of the most important large-scale history paintings of his career whilst in Dublin. The best known of these are The Irish House of Commons in 1780 (the only contemporary painting of the interior of the House of Commons) and A View of College Green with the meeting of the Volunteers on the 4th November 1779 (NGI). This last named work was first exhibited at the Society of Artists in William Street, Dublin, in 1880, along with four others by Wheatley – two portraits and two landscapes of Clontarf and Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) respectively. This was to be his only public exhibition in Ireland.
In addition to official portraits and history paintings, Wheatley toured Ireland painting delicate watercolour landscapes and studies of the Irish peasantry. Crookshank and Glin note that ”Wheatley’s Irish work is especially interesting for a number of genre subjects in the Wouverman manner of Irish fairs, fisherfolk and gipsy encampments” and comment that they “capture the late eighteenth century Irish scene better than most artists because of their fluency, clarity and gaiety”.4 According to Mary Webster, Wheatley owned a number of drawings by the Dutch master Phillip Wouvermans and was a great admirer of his depictions of travellers and country fairs. 5 Both artists evidently empathised with their subjects; in the words of Gandon and Mulvany, Wheatley “succeeded in delineating the characters of the peasantry, in perfect accordance with the humours he met with on these subjects”. 6 It was this empathy that led James Kelly to rate Wheatley’s Irish genre scenes as “one of the most rewarding and appealing vistas on to the daily life of the common people of late eighteenth century Ireland”. 7
Among Wheatley’s Irish genre scenes are a number of watercolours in the National Gallery of Donnybrook Fair, which were the basis of a large oil of that subject exhibited at the RA in 1784 (no. 91). These share many attributes in common with the present oil, including the artfully arranged groupings of people and animals, the play of light and shade with some groups seen in silhouette from behind, and the use of a narrow device such as a staff or in this case a horse-whip to lead the eye from figure to figure. In Scene at a Fair (reproduced in Webster, op. cit., page 51), a small figure in a travelling cloak is seated in the foreground, echoing the placing of the man with his roughly pinned cloak in the Travellers Resting on a Country Road. In both the watercolours and the present oil Wheatley displays his command of animal painting by depicting horses and donkeys from every conceivable view-point, invariably placing them in such a way as to again direct the eye into the main focal point of the composition. Horses feature in another oil painting, A Gypsy Encampment in Ireland, integrated into the main grouping of figures (Colonel Grant collection, see Webster, page 133). The somewhat malevolent stare of a mongrel dog accosts the viewer, a device that reoccurs in Riot in Broad Street (engraved 1790, fig. 61 in Webster).
Wheatley returned to London early in 1784. In that year’s RA exhibition he showed four Irish works. His depictions of Irish fair scenes and country folk proved popular in England, and he continued to produce them long after he returned from Ireland. These Irish peasants also gradually evolved into general rustic ‘types’, which likewise found a ready market among English audiences. Wheatley went on to specialise in this genre, with his Cries of London becoming one of best-selling series of eighteenth century prints. In 1791 he was elected a Royal Academician, but his final years were plagued by gout and debts.
1 Walter Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Vol. II, Maunsel & Co., Dublin, 1913, page 519. The most comprehensive source of information on Wheatley is the monograph on him by Mary Webster, Francis Wheatley, Paul Mellon Centre for British Art, 1970.
2 Ibid.
3 Edward Edwards, Anecdotes of Painters, who have resided or been born in England with critical remarks on their productions, Leigh and Sotheby, London, 1808, quoted by Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin, Ireland’s Painters 1600-1940, Yale, New Haven and London, 2002, page 164.
4 Ibid., page 166.
5 Webster, op. cit., page 48.
6 James Gandon and T. J. Mulvany, The Life of James Gandon, Esq, quoted in Webster, op. cit., page 48.
7 James Kelly, ‘Francis Wheatley: His Irish Paintings, 1779—83’, in Adele M. Dalsimer (ed.), Visualizing Ireland: National Identity and the Pictorial Tradition, Faber & Faber, Boston and London, 1993, page 160.
- Auction Details
- T&Cs
- Bidding
Clause 1
(a) Each lot is put up subject to any reserve price imposed by the vendor
(b) Subject to sub-clause (a) of this clause, the highest bidder for each lot shall be the purchaser thereof
(c) If any dispute arises as to the highest bidder the auctioneer shall have absolute discretion to determine the dispute and may put up again and re-sell the lot in respect of which the dispute arises.
Clause 2
(a) The bidding and advances shall be regulated by and at the absolute discretion of the auctioneer and he shall have the right to refuse any bid or bids. NOTE: Where an agent bids, even on behalf of a disclosed client, the auctioneer nevertheless has the right at his discretion to refuse any such bid.
(b) The purchaser of each lot shall immediately on its sale, if required by the auctioneer, give him the name and address of the purchaser and pay to the auctioneer at his discretion the whole or part of the purchase money. If the purchaser of any lot fails to comply with any such requirement the auctioneer may put up again and re-sell the lot; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and expenses of re-sale which shall become a debt due from him.
(c) Where an agent purchases on behalf of an undisclosed client such agent shall be personally liable for payment of the purchase money to the auctioneer and for safe delivery of the lot to the said client.
Clause 3
(a) The auctioneer reserves the rights to bid on behalf of clients including vendors, but shall not be liable for errors or omissions in executing instructions to bid.
(b) The auctioneer reserves the rights, before or during a sale, to group together lots belonging to the same vendor, to split up and to withdraw any lot or lots at the auctioneer's absolute discretion and without giving any reason in any case.
(c) The auctioneer acts as agent only, and therefore shall not be liable for any default of the purchaser or vendor.
Clause 4
(a) Each lot shall be at the purchaser's risk from the fall of the hammer and shall be paid for in full before delivery and taken away at his expense within one day of the sale. The buyer will be responsible for all removal, storage and insurance charges in respect of any lot which has not been collected within one day of the date of sale.
(b) If any purchaser fails to pay in full for any lot within 21 days of the date of sale such lot may at any time thereafter at the auctioneer's discretion be put up for sale by auction again or sold privately; if upon such re-sale a lower price is obtained than was obtained on the first sale the purchaser in default on the first sale shall make good the difference in price and the expenses of re-sale which shall become debt due from him.
(c) Interest at 2 per cent per month and legal costs (if any) for recovery of monies due shall be payable by the purchaser on any overdue account.
Clause 5
(a) Each buyer, by making a bid, acknowledges that he has satisfied himself as to the physical condition, age and catalogue description of each lot (including but not restricted to whether the lot is damaged or has been repaired or restored).
(b) All lots are sold with all faults and imperfections and errors of description and the Auctioneer and its employees, servants or agents shall not be responsible for any error of description or for the condition or authenticity of any lot, save for Clause 5 (c) below. Written or verbal condition reports may be supplied by the Auctioneer on request but these are merely statements of opinion, and any error or omission in these reports may not be taken as grounds for a cancellation of sale or refund of any part of the purchase price or the cost of any repairs to the lot or lots reported on
(c) A purchaser shall be at liberty to reject any lot if he - (i) gives the auctioneer written notice of intention to question the genuineness of the lot within seven days from the date of sale; AND (ii) proves that the lot is a deliberate forgery and (iii) returns to the auctioneer within 20 days from the date of sale the lot in the same condition as it was at the time of sale; provided that the auctioneer may, at his discretion, on receiving a request in writing from the purchaser, extend for a reasonable period the time for return of the lot to enable it to be submitted to expertisation. NOTE: The onus of proving a lot to be a deliberate forgery is on the purchaser.
(d) Where a lot has been submitted to expertisation, all costs of such expertisation shall be paid by the person who retains the certificate of expertisation and item or items to which the certificate relates.
(e) Where the purchaser of a lot discharges the onus and acts in accordance with sub-clause (b) of this clause, the auctioneer shall rescind the sale and repay to the purchaser the purchase money paid by him in respect of the lot.
(f) No lot shall be rejected if, subsequent to the sale, it has been marked by an expert committee or treated by any other process unless the auctioneer's permission to subject the lot to such treatment has first been obtained in writing.
(g) Any lot listed as a "collection, range, portfolio etc." or stated to comprise or contain a collection or range of items which are not described shall be put up for sale not subject to rejection and shall be taken by the purchaser with all (if any) faults, lack of genuineness and errors of description and numbers of items in the lot, and the purchaser shall have no right to reject the lot; except that, notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this sub-clause, where before a sale a person intending to bid at the sale gives notice in writing to, and satisfies the auctioneer that any such lot contains any item or items undescribed in the sale catalogue and that person specifically describes that item or those items in that notice, then that item or those items shall, as between the auctioneer and that person, to be taken to form part of the description of the lot.
Clause 6
The respective rights and obligations of the parties shall be governed and interpreted by Irish law, and the buyer hereby submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts.
Special Conditions
a) The buyer shall pay the Auctioneer a commission at the rate of 20% (Art sales) or 24% (Collectibles sales). The Buyer's Premium is added to the hammer price of all lots and is subject to VAT at the prevailing rate.
(b) The Auctioneer or its employees, servants or agents may, on request organise packing and shipping of lots purchased or may order on the buyer's behalf third parties to pack or ship purchases. Under no circumstances does the Auctioneer accept any liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever occasioned in the course of such service.
(c) The buyer authorises the Auctioneer to use any photographs or illustrations of any lot purchased for any or all purposes as the Auctioneer may require. The placing of a bid will be taken as full agreement to all the above conditions.
WHYTE AND SONS AUCTIONEERS LIMITED, 2022
We hold two types of auction - TIMED and LIVE SALEROOM
1. TIMED AUCTIONS
WHAT IS A TIMED AUCTION?Timed auctions do not have an auctioneer calling the bids – there’s just a bidding time frame and whoever bids highest during the time frame wins. Each lot can be bid on for a defined time period. At the end of this period, the bidder who has submitted the highest bid wins the lot, provided the bid exceeds the reserve price. You tell us the most you’re willing to pay – and we’ll bid intelligently for you, only bidding enough for you to meet the reserve or stay in the lead. Don’t worry, your maximum bid is not disclosed, and is held in confidence on our bidding system.
WHEN ONLINE BIDDING STARTS - YOU CAN LEAVE BIDS online and your bid will start at one step above the previous bid or at the start price if no other bid. You will be notified by email if you get outbid before the auction starts.
ONCE THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH, ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED, THE EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS CEASE and you should follow the auction on-line to see how your bids are doing. Make sure you have logged in if you wish to bid.
WHEN THE AUCTION BEGINS TO FINISH ON THE DATE AND TIME SPECIFIED,THE BIDDING FOR EACH LOT REMAINS OPEN FOR 45 SECONDS at a start price determined by the reserve or bids already received. Each lot will be open and remain open for bidding until its end time is reached; the end time will be extended by 45 seconds if another bid is received. At the end time, if there are no further bids and the highest bid received equals or exceeds the reserve price the lot is sold to highest bidder.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.
2. LIVE SALEROOM AUCTION:
If you can't attend the auction in the saleroom you can email or post or telephone bids to us, or you can book a telephone line to bid during the sale. Contact us on +353 16762888 or bids@whytes.ie
To bid on-line at a Live Saleroom Auction:
• Log in or register bid.whytes.ie
• Visit the online auction catalogue
• Find the lot number you are interested in.
· The current highest bid will be displayed
• The minimum bid required to beat the highest bid will also be shown.
· You can place your bid. The screen will show the new highest bid and will indicate if that bid is yours. Note: if a previous bidder has left a bid that equals yours the previous bidder will win the lot unless you outbid them. If the screen doesn’t confirm that your bid is winning you will need to bid again if you wish to buy the lot. Don’t worry -the system will not allow you to bid against yourself.
• The live auction will begin at the announced date and time and will be sold in lot number order by the auctioneer.
• Invoices will be issued to successful bidders on the next working day after the sale has ended.
BIDDING STEPS:
Up to €300 x€10
Up to €700 x €20
Up to €1,300 x €50
Up to €3,000 x €100
Up to €7,000 x €200
Up to €13,000 x €500
Up to €30,000 x €1,000
Up to €40,000 x €2,000
Up to €70,000 x €2,000
Up to €130,000 x €5,000
Up to €500,000 x €10,000
A FEW TIPS FOR ABSENTEE BIDDERS:
Bid the maximum price you would pay for the lot; we will try and secure the lot for you at the lowest possible price. For instance if you bid €2,000 on a lot and the highest other bid we receive is €1,200 you get it for €1,250. Most people tend to bid in round numbers, e.g. €500. It’s often a good idea to bid an odd number, e.g. €520, or €540 which will outbid an even number. Check the results the day after the sale: these are published on our website www.whytes.ie at about 10am on the day after the sale. Successful bidders are also notified of results by mail.
TIE BIDS: if two or more equal bids are received the lot will be sold to the first received.
The Buyers Premium for Art sales is 20% plus VAT ( 24.6% gross). The Buyers Premium for Collectibles sales is 24% plus VAT (29.52% gross). The Buyers Premium will be added to your winning bid amount. Your invoice will detail all the payment, collection and shipping particulars.