Lot 4
HERBERT JAMES DRAPER (BRITISH 1863-1920)
THE SPIRIT OF THE FOUNTAIN
Poetry & Myth: Romantic Art in the Victorian Age
Auction: 02 July 2026 from 14:00 BST
Description
Indistinctly signed and dated '91, oil on canvas
Dimensions
58.4cm x 106.7cm (23in x 42 in)
Provenance
Bought from the artist by John Hall, Charnes Hall and Broughton Court;
John Hall; Christie's, London, 30 November 1934;
The Fine Art Society, London, February 1968;
Christie’s, London, 14 December 2016
Footnote
Painted in 1891, shortly after Herbert James Draper's return from an extended tour of Northern Italy, Germany, Holland and Belgium, The Spirit of the Fountain is an important early work by one of the last great exponents of British classical painting. Trained at the Royal Academy Schools and in Paris under Jules-Joseph Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger, Draper established a reputation for richly imaginative mythological subjects that combined academic draughtsmanship with a distinctly Victorian sensibility. By the turn of the century he had become one of Britain's most successful painters of classical and literary themes, achieving international acclaim with works such as The Lament for Icarus (1898, Tate).
The subject of the present work is drawn from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, in which a fountain nymph residing within the Bower of Bliss ensnares travellers through her beauty and enchantment. Executed with a fluid, atmospheric handling, the painting already displays many of the qualities that would define Draper's mature style. The auburn-haired nymph, crowned with ivy and surrounded by symbols of love and Bacchic revelry, embodies the alluring and dangerous femininity that became a recurring motif throughout his oeuvre. Comparable in mood and subject to the mythological fantasies of his contemporary John William Waterhouse, the work reveals Draper's gift for uniting literary inspiration, sensual beauty and decorative richness.
The painting was acquired by John Hall, one of Draper's most loyal patrons, who would later own several of the artist's major works, including Lamia (1909) and Halcyone (1915), and commission portraits of himself and his wife from the artist.
