Details
JOHN LINNELL (BRITISH, 1792-1882)
Southampton from the River near Netley Abbey
signed and dated 'J. Linnell/1825.' (lower right)
oil on canvas laid down on board
15 x 3812 in. (38.1 x 97.8 cm.)
Provenance
Commissioned by Chambers Hall, Southampton, 1825.
Sir Lawrence Gowing, by 1968, and by descent.
Literature
A.T. Story, The Life of John Linnell, London, 1896, vol. I, pp. 125-7, 133-7, vol. II, pp. 263-4.
K. Crouan, John Linnell, A Centennial Exhibition, exh. cat., Cambridge, 1982, pp. 22-3.
D. Linnell, Blake, Palmer, Linnell and Co. The Life of John Linnell, Lewes, 1994, p. 359, no. 77.
Exhibited
Possibly, London, British Institution, 1828, no. 510.
Detroit, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and Philadelphia, Museum of Art, Romantic Art in Britain: Paintings and Drawings 1760-1860, 9 January - 21 April 1968, no. 157.
Paris, Petit Palais, La peinture romantique anglaise et les préraphaélites, January - April 1972, no. 164.
Munich, Haus der Kunst, Zwei Jahrunderte englische Malerei, 21 November 1979 - 27 January 1980, no. 295.
Madrid, Museo del Prado, Pintura británica de Hogarth a Turner, British Council Exhibition, 18 October 1988 - 8 January 1989, no. 60.
Special notice
Please note this lot is the property of a consumer. See H1 of the Conditions of Sale.
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Lot Essay

The present lot was commissioned by Chambers Hall, following his introduction to Linnell by the artist D.C. Read (1774–1828), who Linnell was visiting at the time. The oil’s vibrant hues of sunset delighted Hall and resulted in the future commission of The Ferry of Itchen (Private Collection) : ‘You have indeed realised ideas which I had long cherished of a most magnificent effect of nature, the interest in which is heightened to me from the circumstance of locality […] My real ambition is now the Itchen Ferry (morning) as a companion to the sunset’ (quoted in K. Crouan, John Linnell, A Centennial Exhibition, Cambridge, 1982, p. 23).
Southampton from the River near Netley Abbey stands testament to Linnell’s ability to harness mood and translate light. Linnell was greatly engaged with 19th century dialogue, which debated the practice of naturalism and the turn away from the idealism of history paintings. He developed a friendship with John Constable (1776–1837), which was built upon discussion and exchange of thought on this topic. His work has continued to inform global discourse, and the present lot has been exhibited internationally at the Museo del Prado, as well as in Detroit, Philadelphia, Paris and Munich.

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