Historical Portraits Sold at Toovey’s

Henri-Pierre Danloux – Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d’Angoulême (1775-1844) and Charles Ferdinand d’Artois, duc’ d’Berrie (1778-1820), Sons of Charles X, King of France, a pair of oval oils on canvas laid onto panel, one signed and dated 1797, each 24cm x 18.5cm

A pair of remarkable portraits have just sold at Toovey’s for £15,000.

The portraits are by Henri-Pierre Danloux (1753-1809) who in 1792 moved to London escaping the French Revolution.

They depict Louis Antoine de Bourbon, duc d’Angoulême (1775-1844) and Charles Ferdinand d’Artois, duc’ d’Berrie (1778-1820), the sons of Charles X, King of France and provide a window into history. Charles and his eldest son, Louis Antoine would both eventually be forced to abdicate in favour of Louis Phillipe de Orléans.

Louis Antoine accompanied and advised his uncle, Louis XVIII. He was twice forced into exile in Britain, and twice he fought in the Napoleonic wars, the second time with Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.

Danloux was influenced by fashionable English portrait painters like Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), John Hoppner (1758-1810) and George Romney (1734-1802). He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London which brought commissions from a number of British patrons.

Danloux would return to Paris in 1801 and continue to paint until his death in 1809.

Toovey’s picture specialist, Tim Williams with one of the Henri-Pierre Danloux portraits

Charles Philippe, Count d’Artois and later King Charles X of France, arrived in Scotland with his sons and established an émigré court at the Palace of Holyrood, Edinburgh. Danloux travelled from London to Scotland to paint the portraits of his fellow countrymen. His portrait of Louis Antoine was engraved by Philipp Audinet in 1799 (an example can be found at the National Portrait Gallery, London). Versions of both portraits by Danloux can also be found in the collection of the Palace of Versailles,. The portraits sold at Toovey’s were gifts from the sitters to Lord Adam Gordon (1726-1801) commander-in-chief of the forces of North Britain, and remained with the family. Lord Gordon had greeted d’Artois and his sons at the quayside on their arrival in Edinburgh where half of the city had turned out to witness the spectacle. Danloux also painted a portrait of Lord Gordon in 1799 which is now in the collection of the National Galleries Scotland.

It is always special to discover works that are fresh to the market like these. Toovey’s next sale of fine paintings will be held on 17th May 2023 and entries are still being invited.  If you would like advice on you paintings collection contact Tim Williams at Toovey’s.

The Donald Church and Michael Godfrey Collections

These two beautiful collections represent the best of English country house taste and I am delighted that they are the subject of a series of specialist sales at Toovey’s.

The collections are the property of the artist and interior designer Donald Church and the connoisseur Michael Godfrey. Donald and Michael’s great friendship was born out of a shared joy in collecting and National Trust trips.

Donald Church, a graduate of Medway College of Art and Maidstone College of Art, had a remarkable career working with many of the leading interior decorators of the post-war period, including the hugely influential John Fowler of Colefax and Fowler. Although incredibly talented, John Fowler had a reputation for not always being easy to work with. Donald left his position as John’s assistant but remained a life-long friend. He continued to work for John as a consultant over many years, providing watercolour designs and drawings, including studies for John’s interior designs for several National Trust properties. Donald also worked with other leading interior decorators, including David Hicks, Mary Fox Linton and another Colefax and Fowler luminary, Imogen Taylor.

Donald maintained his friendship with John Fowler and a number of pieces from John’s home, The Hunting Lodge in Odiham, form part of Donald’s collection. These include several pieces of furniture and decorative items. There is a photograph showing John Fowler in the Garden Room at The Hunting Lodge, sitting in a Louis XVI style chair which is entered in the auction. Donald Church’s unerring eye for taste, design and quality informed the interiors of his home and his collection.

Michael Godfrey’s collection, too, is informed by exceptional taste and includes fine Georgian furniture and works of art, 18th-century Worcester porcelain, paintings and prints. Michael famously spent his lunchtimes searching out pieces for his collection around St James’s, London, while working as a senior accountant for the Commonwealth Secretariat in Pall Mall.

Their collections will be sold together in a series of specialist auctions throughout March, April and May 2023.

Search “Donald Church” or “Michael Godfrey” in the current auction to see the collections.

The Important Sussex Artist, Fred Cuming

Fred Cuming – ‘Roses I’, 20th century oil on canvas laid onto board, signed recto © the artist/Toovey’s 2023

The artist Fred Cuming, RA, is considered to be one of the finest landscape painters of his generation. He lived and worked in East Sussex.

Born in 1930 Cuming attended the Sidcup School of art in the years after the war. Between 1951 and 1955 Cuming studied at the Royal College of Art in London gaining a Rome Scholarship. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1974 (ARA 1969). He was also a Member of the New English Art Club and an Associate of the Royal College of Art.

Writing about Fred Cuming the biographer Richard Holmes describes him as ‘A truly visionary painter.’ Cuming conveys recognisable scenes transforming them with a poetic intensity born out of light and colour.

Fred Cuming gives voice to his life and inspiration as an artist in the insightful short film Portrait of an artist (Fred Cuming) commissioned by the Royal Academy in 2015.

He describes how he grew up in Woolwich fascinated by the boats and water, painting even as a young boy.

In his Sussex studio he worked on numerous paintings at the same time, each informing the other as they develop. Form and structure in the scene becomes apparent as he commits the scene to paper.

Two oils by this important artist, entered from a collection in Horsham, sold in Toovey’s recent fine art sale for £2200 and £3600 respectively.

Fred Cuming – Fowey, Square Rigger’, 20th century oil on board, signed recto © the artist/Toovey’s 2023

The scene, ‘Fowey, Square Rigger’, shimmers in the Cornish sunlight, the brilliant palette adding life and movement to the scene which is recognisable and abstract – a fleeting moment in time. Cuming has in the past reflected that the “problem presented by the simple seascape, which is about nothing more than light and space, I find particularly intriguing.” This scene is one which I am particularly fond of as we used to holiday at Polruan on the other side of the Fowey estuary when our children were young.

The cool morning light in the studio is finely captured in the still life ‘Roses I’ – the delicate brush work and palette transcends our immediate perceptions. Fred Cuming’s painting captures our attention and stills us.

This questioning artist’s excitement in the world and the landscapes he painted remained undiminished. Cuming reflected “…the more I discover the more there is to discover.”

To discover more about this important Sussex artist visit www.fredcuming.com.

Launch of 2023 Sussex Heritage Trust Awards

Simon Knight, Chairman of the Sussex Heritage Trust, with Rupert Toovey at the launch of the 2023 Awards

Leading architects, artisans and supporters gathered in the recently completed Lancing College Chapel for the launch of the 2023 Sussex Heritage Trust Awards.

Through its work and awards the Sussex Heritage Trust promotes and encourages best practice in our county’s built environment and landscape.

Chairman of the trust, Simon Knight, thanked Lancing College for hosting this year’s launch and headline sponsors, Irwin Mitchell, together with all the trust’s sponsors and supporters.

We were welcomed by Jeremy Tomlinson who worked at Lancing College for 41 years as a teacher of English, Head of Drama, Housemaster, Senior Master and Registrar. Jeremy has also been at the heart of the Friends of Lancing Chapel for many years and provided a fascinating talk on the history, life and development of the chapel.

Begun in 1868, the Grade I listed chapel at Lancing College is the largest school chapel in the world. The friends provide funds to maintain and conserve the Chapel which is dedicated to St Mary and St Nicholas. Jeremy explained how the Friends have built the west wall and rose window, completed the glazing, lighting and furnishing of the Chapel and contributed to the Handford Porch, the South Aisle door, the new Crypt altar and on-going stone conservation.

The award winning and recently completed west end of Lancing College Chapel

For most of the Chapel’s life the west end was never completed. In 2017 the two open arches in the west wall were filled with blind tracery in limestone and a design for a west porch by Michael Drury RIBA was given official approval. The Chapel Completion Campaign was launched in 2019 and funds flooded in. This enabled a contract with Chichester Stoneworks Ltd to be signed the same year.

After 154 years the Chapel’s west porch and the Chapel itself was finally completed in time for the its dedication on 23 April 2022.

The Chapel is open to the public daily throughout the year and new Friends are always welcome.

The Chapel has received numerous Sussex Heritage Trust Awards.

The Sussex Heritage Trust’s work is important in promoting best practice in our county’s built environment and landscape whilst encouraging and supporting talented young people into careers in conservation, building and horticulture. I am delighted that Toovey’s remain long-term sponsors and supporters of their important work.

The closing date for entries for this year’s Sussex Heritage Trust Awards is 31st March. To find out more visit sussexheritagetrust.org.uk.

Juan Manuel Blanes World Record at Toovey’s

Juan Manuel Blanes’s Gaucho on Horseback in a Uruguayan Prairie Landscape, oil on canvas, circa 1875-1878

A major work by Uruguay’s most important painter Juan Manuel Blanes of a Gaucho has just broken the world record at auction selling for £1.15 million at Toovey’s.

Rupert Toovey said “I have known the painting for many years but congratulations must go to our fine art consultant Tim Williams whose exceptional research and tenacity in contacting collectors across the world has made this remarkable result possible, and Nick Toovey who conducted the auction.”

Toovey’s fine art consultant Tim Williams with Juan Manuel Blanes’s important painting Gaucho on Horseback

Tim Williams commented “Juan Manuel Blanes [1830-1901] is renowned for painting grand history paintings and portraits, as well as scenes and events that shaped Uruguay’s national identity during the years of conflict that resulted in independence from Spain.”

He continues “The Uruguayan municipal gallery in Montevideo is named Museo del Bellas Artes Juan Manuel Blanes and houses the largest collection of the artist’s work.”

Tim’s research revealed the painting’s remarkable provenance. The first owner of the painting was the notable Spanish aristocrat Baldomero Hyacinth de Bertodano, 7th Marquis de Moral. He lived at Cowbridge House near Malmsbury in Wiltshire and the painting hung there until his death in 1921. The contents of Cowbridge House were auctioned to divide the estate between five family members. The painting was included in the sale. Described as ‘A fine Oil Painting, The Gaucho on the Pampas in Argentine about 52 by 46 ins’. Baldomero’s brother, Charles Edmund de Bertodano, a notable Railway engineer, purchased the painting from the auction and it remained with his family to the present day.

Thought originally to be an Argentinian landscape the painting sold by Toovey’s actually depicts a Uruguayan scene with a Gaucho on horseback pointing, as two horsemen gallop away on the horizon. The golden glow of Blanes’ palette and the way that he paints the effect of light playing on the prairie is remarkable.

Tim explains “Blanes’ Gaucho paintings celebrate the way of life of these independent, rugged horsemen whose lives embodied the South American ‘Wild West’ and national identity in a similar way to the cowboys of the United States. The open prairie beneath an expansive sky would have contrasted with the pressured urban lives of the cosmopolitan collectors who patronised Blanes’ work.”

Toovey’s Chairman, Rupert Toovey with the World Record Breaking Blanes Gaucho

Commenting on the result Rupert Toovey said “This is the first time that this important painting has appeared on the market in some 102 years. A hammer price of £1.15 million is a new world record and I am delighted that the painting has been acquired by a private Uruguayan collector.”

Watch the auction below: