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Alfred Vickers
Barbizon Period English Landscape, Oil on Canvas, Circle of John Constable

1840s

About the Item

Barbizon Period mid 19th Century oil on canvas English rural landscape by Alfred Vickers, Signed bottom right with old collectors label to the rear stretcher. Presented in fine custom carved wood and gilt frame. A charming rural landscape of a road leading down to the sea or a river, perhaps Vickers beloved Isle of Wight or the Medway. A central figure catches the eye, cottages to her right, smoke drifting lazily from their chimneys. A copse of trees painted in a style reminiscent of the work of Constable as is the handling of the sky. Vickers has created a wonderful perspective in the painting that takes the eye all the way through the painting as if on a journey in the landscape itself. British artist Alfred Vickers is predominantly known for his rugged landscapes, which depict scenic views from the mountains of North Wales to the lowlands of Kent. He was an important contributor to the development of naturalistic landscape painting. Painting at the same time as the Barbizon School in France, back in England, the appreciation of this style was minimal, virtually non-existent. The press criticised the emerging techniques of the French, believing them to be indulgent whims of deluded young men. So when Alfred Vickers, who was also inspired by John Constable, began producing rapid, sketchy depictions of a land he adored, the critics were nonplussed. Vickers worked at the same time as the Barbizon School but unlike, Corot, Dupré and his cohorts, he didn't receive a classical education or train with a master. In fact, he gained an apprenticeship under a house painter and was born into humble beginnings. But despite the different paths, the results were the same - a genuine attempt to paint nature truthfully, in all its changing moods. In a strange contradiction, despite his lack of popularity, the Royal Academy did show many of his paintings, 62 in total. Yet, the press rarely mentioned him, preferring to celebrate the works of the established elite, the Academy men who wore the right suit. Vickers was an outsider, diligently carrying out his work across much of the United Kingdom including Wales, Derbyshire, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest, Kent and Hampshire. One critic admired his ‘honest work’. “Those who go to picture exhibitions to feel the velvets and the damasks, and to be made to exclaim “how exactly like” this, that, and the other painted object is, need not trouble themselves to look at these pictures of Alfred Vickers. But those who can enjoy the simple oft-told pastoral of the bubbling brook beneath the leafy trees, the cows driven home at milking time by the road through the wood, the rustic figures, the peeps of blue distance seen beyond, and a hundred passages of homely charm and beauty, true, but not less so for being common, will find them here. These are what we admire in the honest work of this painter, whose life was spent in feasting on natural beauty, though he well-nigh starved at last.” Vickers was early, as important as the Barbizon School, and a precursor to loose naturalistic landscape painting as we know it. Vickers is represented in various public collections including The Wilson, Cheltenham, Reading Museum, Leicester Museum, The National Trust, Sheffield Museum, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Guildhall Art Gallery, Russell Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Canterbury Museum, and Nottingham City Museum. He exhibited at the Royal Academy (62 works), British Institute (125 works) and Society of British Artists.
  • Creator:
    Alfred Vickers (1786 - 1876, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1840s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.21 in (31 cm)Width: 16.54 in (42 cm)Depth: 1.78 in (4.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    In good overall condition commensurate with age. There are two areas of expert old restoration top centre not visible from the front (see photos).
  • Gallery Location:
    Cotignac, FR
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: LG/Vickers1stDibs: LU1430214063142
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