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LOUISE RAYNER IN EASTERN ENGLAND | |||
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DERBY So far as we were aware, Louise Rayner painted only one view of Derby, and that was A View of Irongate, Derby, below left, courtesy of Derby Museum and Art Gallery. What hadn't occurred to us was that there might be more than one version of that view, possibly reworked in part from the same original studies.
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LINCOLN
Lincoln obviously had more views and subjects for Louise, and Andy King informs us that she is thought to have made several trips to the city. She may well have visited Lincoln very early in her career (before 1850), as her father Samuel was a good friend of Peter DeWint, an artist particularly known for his watercolours of Lincoln. Right: Lincoln Cathedral from the South - a quite dramatic view. Date not known. | |||
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 Finally, the vaguely titled English Street Scene was offered for sale in the early 2000s by McTears for £1500-£2000. It shows the water conduit at St Mary le Wigford, Lincoln, now a scheduled monument standing in front of the original Lincoln parish church of St Mary le Wigford (beside the railway line). The building supplied water to local inhabitants, and was built in 1540 following the dissolution of the Whitefriars, using stone from the friary buildings. There are four known paintings of the water conduit by Louise - 1901 (titled The Water Conduit at St.Mary le Wigford, Lincoln); two in 1881 (titled St. Mary's Conduit, Lincoln 1881 and merely The Conduit, Lincoln); and this one thought to date from her early visits of 1863 or 1864. We would welcome confirmation from anyone with more knowledge of the date. The dress fashion seems the best pointer, though local historians may pick up something from the buildings.
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WARWICK We know there are several paintings of Warwick but so far we've only seen the two we display below. The one at left is The East Gate at Warwick; the one on the right is St. Mary's Church from Church Street, Warwick. We have no date for either painting, but both were auctioned by Bonhams in June 2007, for about £5600 each.
The East Gate painting shows only a side portal of the gate. To see the whole of it as pictured by another artist sometime shortly before 1920, take a look at fromoldbooks. The building on top of the gate is a chapel to St. Peter, built in the reign of Henry the Sixth (1422-61). The West Gate has a similar chapel to St. James. Note that the Elizabethan houses are relatively clean-faced when Louise painted her view. By the beginning of the 1900s, the upper floors were heavily covered in Virginia Creeper, and by the end of the 1930s (or immediately after World War II) the ivy had been cleaned off completely. St Mary's Church nave and tower were destroyed by the great fire of Warwick in 1694, but rebuilt in ten years. The church contains the Beauchamp Chapel, also painted by Louise. For a small charge you can apparently climb to the tower and enjoy the surrounding views of the countryside. We know the following paintings of Warwick exist, but have not seen them. We would welcome information about any of them - and especially images, of course! Interior of the Beauchamp Chapel, St. Mary's, Warwick (watercolour) Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick (oil, before 1877) Smith Street, Warwick (before 1877) Friars' Street, Warwick Leycester's hospital, Warwick. |
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We are also aware of the following paintings of Cambridge, but have not seen them. We would welcome information about any of them - and especially images, of course! Cambridge Entrance to Jesus College, Cambridge King's Chapel, Cambridge St. Michael's Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge Street Scene, Cambridge |
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Harry Drummond, January 2008.
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Please take note: we claim no art expertise, and in no way do we offer provenance for any paintings. What you see here was compiled out of interest in Louise Rayner's paintings and those by her family, but is based on sometimes very fragmentary evidence. As such, it is inevitable that there will be errors, though we naturally hope to reduce these over time. We would gratefully receive any information or corrections that will help us to fill the gaps and resolve unproved links - for example confirmation of dates of birth, death, etc., and details of other addresses the family lived at (and roughly when). Images of any of the family's paintings would also be very welcome. Thank you! |
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CAMBRIDGE
It does have an added point of interest. The detail here at left shows the signature on the edge of the pavement, with a reversed 's' and other letters painted differently from their underlying lines. The painting previously went through a Christies sale in 1991 when it drew £2860, and the signature is (uncertainly) believed to have been like that then, so it's probably an original Louise error!