This large early 20th-century oil painting by English artist John Falconar Slater (1857-1937) depicts a picturesque river landscape with a town and distant hills. Slater was an accomplished, Royal Academy exhibited, painter of landscapes, seascapes and scenes.
Under a glowering sky, which dominates the composition, a silvery river snakes between its banks towards a distant row of buildings, rendered in grey. While on the right, a diminutive figure stands before the edge of a town, adjacent to a building resembling a methodist church.
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Slater’s route into art was a rather unconventional one but, despite this, he became one of the foremost British impressionists of his generation. His early years were spent in gainful employment as a bookkeeper for his father’s milling business. But before long, he sought independence and riches by travelling to the lucrative diamond fields of South Africa. Here, he might’ve conceivably stayed but, following a fierce storm, his enterprise was destroyed, leaving him with no option but to return home.
When back in England, he pursued an artistic career in earnest with overcast skies, tumbling waves, and fierce winds, integral to his work. Indeed, it could be argued that his trauma in South Africa underpinned the drama of his oeuvre. His determination to work in all conditions led to the moniker, ‘the weatherproof artist’.
His local successes led to national accolades and he was soon exhibiting at London’s Royal Academy where he was praised for his impressionistic brushwork. His version of nature was not to be embellished but translated with a keen appreciation for the transient effects of light. In turbulent views of Whitley Bay and Cullercoats, near to where he lived, his skilful compositions capture the force of frothing waters as they batter the rugged coastline. While his drifting summertime views of ambling cattle are conspicuous for their serenity.
He’s represented in numerous public collections including the Bank of England Museum, the National Maritime Museum, and the Government Art Collection.
Signed in the lower right and held in a later frame.
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Medium: Oil on board
Overall size: 48½” x 35½” / 123cm x 90cm
Year of creation: c. 1925
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Overall good. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Artist’s auction maximum: £4,200 for ‘Over Putney Heath’, Oil on canvas, Christie’s, The London Sale, London, 2002 (lot 33).
Our reference: BRV1987
