This early 20th-century oil painting by British artist David Bates (1840-1921) depicts a rural view in Capel Curig, North Wales. Bates was an accomplished landscape painter who often returned to this area.

At the heart of sublime Snowdonia, Capel Curig has attracted hordes of artists throughout the decades and continues to do so. Bates adored North Wales, returning time and time again to work directly from nature amid tranquil pastures and breathtaking vistas. His style was naturalistic with an emphasis on simply capturing what he saw without embellishment. As we see here, his semi-loose brushwork enabled him to work efficiently before the conditions changed.

The sheep are little more than a tumble of wool, yet our eye translates his description. Indeed, some of the passages are broadly impressionistic.

Bates exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, New Watercolour Society and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. He’s represented in numerous public collections including at Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, and Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, among others.

Signed/dated in the lower right and held within a later frame.

Learn more about David Bates in our directory.

Medium: Oil on canvas laid on board
Overall size: 17½” x 13½” / 45cm x 35cm
Year of creation: 1901
Labels & Inscriptions: Inscribed with the title on the reverse.
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Frame in excellent condition. 
Artist’s auction maximum: £41,326 for ‘Old English Garden, Holly Mount, Malvern (1889)’, Oil on canvas, Sotheby's, Treasures From The Gilded Age, New York, 10 November 1998 (lot 239).
Our reference: BRV2077