DAVID ROBERTS R.A. (BRITISH 1796-1864)
ST ANDREWS CATHEDRAL - THE EAST END WALL
£13,750
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Evening Sale: 10 June 2021 | From 19:00
Description
Oil on panel
Dimensions
41cm x 30.5cm (16in x 12in)
Provenance
Provenance: Probably the artist's sale; Christie's London, 16 May 1865. Lot 124 as 'Ruins of part of St Andrews Cathedral' to James Nasmyth
His sale; Christie's London, 25 July 1894, lot77 as 'Elgin Cathedral' to Leggatt's
Presumably with Leggatt's where possibly purchased by Gilbert Leigh Marks, London and thence by family descent
Note: Although Roberts left Scotland for London in 1823, he would often return to visit and record sites of architectural interest, a number of which he later intended to reproduce in etching as 'The monastic antiquities of Scotland'. During an early visit to St Andrews in 1829, he painted around six works of different views, the majority of which relate, though not exclusively, to the cathedral and its grounds.
Roberts shows here that he absorbed from the very beginning of his career a scholarly interest in antiquities that he retained all his life. The composition is imbued with a wonderfully moody atmosphere as the decaying maginificence of the towering ruins of the east gable are contrasted against the menacing prescence of a leaden sky. Interestingly, a watercolour of this same composition, dated 1828, is recorded in a private collection.
The work also corresponds to a thumbnail sketch from Robert's 'Record Books' numbered 50 under the year 1831 that was purchased by the Duke of Bedford at the Society of British Artists in 1831, no. 137 (RB50) as 'Ruins of the Cathedral of St Rule, St Andrews' but this version is more probably one of two other oils of St Andrews Cathedral that were among the pictures in Robert's studio when he died and included in his posthumous studio sale at Christie's London in 1865
We are grateful to Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for confirming the authenticity from photograps and for her assistance in preparing this catalogue entry
Literature: Robert's Record Book, vol. 1, folio 53r, no.50, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Conneticut