Norman Garstin (1847-1926) (attributed to) “Young Woman Sea...

Hammer

€700

Norman Garstin (1847-1926) (attributed to)

“Young Woman Seated at a Table,” O.O.P., approx. 37cms x 24cms (14 1/2" x 9 1/2").    (1)

A first-rate painting, Young Woman Seated at a Table is an accomplished study in tones, ranging from pale ivory to grey, to burnt umber. Seated on a pew-like chair, the young woman, a servant girl, leans forward, arms outstretched on the table, as if overcome with tiredness or grief. Behind her can be seen an empty fire grate. The only object on the table is a candle holder, but the candle has burned out. The narrative conveyed by the scene is clear; the young woman has maintained an all-night vigil for her loved one, possibly a fisherman at sea. However with a new day dawning, hopes of seeing her loved one are fading. The setting, subject-matter and Impressionist style all suggest this is a work by an artist working in Newlyn, Cornwall, in the late nineteenth century. The subject matter of women seating or waiting pensively in cottage interiors was popularised by Walter Langley, founder of the Newlyn School, but his style tends to be more detailed in his depiction of figures and objects. In his painting, A Hopeless Dawn (Tate Britain), the Newlyn artist Frank Bramley depicts a similar theme, of hope dwindling as day dawns. However while this painting has the crispness that one associates with Bramley, he tended to work with a flat brush, using cross-hatching, a technique not so evident in this oil on panel. A convincing attribution can be made to another Newlyn painter, and a contemporary of Bramley’s, Norman Garstin. Born in county Limerick, Garstin worked as an architect and engineer before moving to South Africa where he was a journalist. He then studied art in Antwerp and Paris, afterwards travelling in Spain, Morocco and Venice, before settling in Newlyn in Cornwall, where he taught plein-air painting. Garstin preferred a muted colour palette, and several works by him depict women, servants or children in humble cottage interiors. As shown in his painting of Penzance on a rainy day, he had a liking for almost monochromatic painting.

Provenance: From the collection of the late Thomas Teevan, Dublin.