Name: JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW, A.R.W.S., R.I., R.O.I. (BRITISH, 1872-1919)
Brand: 'As it happeneth to the fool'
Price: 8000.00 GBP
Availability: SoldOut

JOHN BYAM LISTON SHAW, A.R.W.S., R.I., R.O.I. (BRITISH, 1872-1919)
'As it happeneth to the fool'
signed and dated 'BYAM. SHAW/1901' (lower right, in a cartouche) and inscribed 'As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I/ then more wise?/ Eccles. II v XV.' (in a predella) and further numbered and inscribed 'No. 20./xx as it happeneth to the/ fool as it happeneth even/ to me + why was I then/ more wise/Ch 2 V 15' (on a label attached to the reverse)
oil on panel
15³⁄₄ x 11³⁄₄ in. (40 x 30 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 6 November 1991, lot 192.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 30 November 2000, lot 499.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 17 June 2014, lot 54, where purchased by the present owner.

P.G. Konody, 'Byam Shaw's Pictures from the Book of Ecclesiastes', Magazine of Art, 1903, p. 2, illustrated.
R. Vicat Cole, The Art & Life of Byam Shaw, Philadelphia, 1932, p. 122, illustrated.

London, Dowdeswell Galleries, London, Sermons in Stone and Good in Everything - suggested by the Book of Ecclesiastes, 1902, no. 5.
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum, Byam Shaw 1872-1919, 2 September - 26 October 1986, no. 15.

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Lot Essay

In 1902 John Byam Shaw exhibited a series of paintings drawn from the Book of Ecclesiastes entitled Sermons in Stone and Good in Everything - suggested by the Book of Ecclesiastes, at the Dowdeswell Galleries in London. The second chapter of Ecclesiastes concentrates on the themes of human vanity, pleasure and achievement, and the writer concludes that since the wise man dies just as the fool does it is best to take joy in the simple pleasures of life and enjoy our labours.