Lot 9 Sir John Lavery

Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA, 1856-1941 THE PALLADIAN BRIDGE, WILTON, Oil on canvas board, 10'' x 14'' (25.5 x 35.5cm), signed; signed, inscribed and dated August, 1920 verso Provenance: A birthday gift from the artist to Patricia Viscountess Hambledon, and thence by descent to the previous owner; Sotheby's, London Irish Art Auction May 7th 2008 (Lot 152); Private Collection, Dublin. In the summer of 1920, Lavery went to Wilton near Salisbury, the home of the Herbert family to paint teh famous Double Cube Room designed by Inigo Jones. The resulting ''portrait interior'', known as The Van Dyck Room, Wilton, was to become his Royal Academy Diploma painting, His brief stay also provided the opportunity to paint small views of the celebrated Palladian bridge spanning the river Nadder, and constructed close to the house by the ninth Earl of Pembroke in 1737. Apart from the present canvasboard, two others of the same size, without figures, are known. The Palladian Bridge, Wlilton House, shows a stretch of the river, with the bridge at some distance. It can be compared with the more conventional composition executed on the opposite bank, with much less ease by Winston Churchill, who had recently taken up painting under Lavery's tutelage. According to the Herbert family, master and pupil worked in friendly competition on the motif. However the present picture is the most interesting of the Palladian Bridge sequence to come to light. It includes members of the Herbert family enjoying the bright summer's day in their private park. They have been identified as Patricia Herbert, daughter of the 15th Earl, later Viscountess Hambledon, dressed in salmon pink leaning against the balustrade, and Beatrix, Countess of Pembroke seated on the bench. The boy who sits beside the countess is thought to be either of Patricia's younger brothers, Anthony Edward George Herbert or most likely David Alexander Reginald Herbert. The family lurcher at the countess's feet completes the group. As Lloyd George held forth at the Peace Conference and British trade struggled to revive after years of war, Lavery, with splendid economy reveals the relaxed ambiance of the English country hhouse on a summer day. Its quiet grandeur anticipates the glorious garden parties he portrayed with greater frequency on long weekends during the twenties. But the mood here is modest rather than festive- in accord with a restrained palette that comes brilliantly to life in the touches of pink given by the women's dresses