Joseph Edward Southall RWS, NEAC, RBSA (1861-1944)
Fowey Harbour with white barque
Monogrammed and dated 1931, watercolour and possibly tempera in areas, with embossed French paper maker to lower right-hand corner, 57cm by 35cm

For a comparable example, see Sotheby's, July 11th 2019, "Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art Sale", Lot 71 -"The White Barque at Fowey" (1943)

Provenance: Eleanor Crosland, Cheshire, who was Scholar at Ackworth School from 1893-1898
Gifted to Ackworth School, Pontefract, unknown date

The artist attended Ackworth School, and remained a loyal son of the institution. We understand that while visits to the school, while fairly infrequent, were also greatly enjoyed.

This work is being sold for Ackworth School, Pontefract, who have been very proud to own a Southall, but the work has been stored in a safe in recent years due to its financial value, and therefore provides no educational benefit to pupils. All proceeds from the sale are going towards enhancing the experience of pupils with special educational needs.

Hailing from distinguished Quaker lineage on both his Father's and Mother's families (Joseph Sturge Southall and Elizabeth Maria Baker), Joseph Edward Southall started his education at Ackworth School in Pontefract. It was here that inspired a study of the natural world, and recording this observation through the arts, further encouraged by Oliver's Mount in Scarborough and Bootham School in York. A popular figure at Quaker gatherings, Southall remained a lifelong Quaker, devoting much of his spare time to pacifism and uncompromisingly arguing for peace. This is particularly notable at the outbreak of the First World War, when Southall concentrated his energies to vigorously campaigning against the war.

With a well-established post-war reputation, Southall and his wife Anna Elizabeth (Bessie) Baker returned to their frequent travels across Europe and the British South Coast, resulting in a myriad of paintings depicting the idyllic landscapes, and often executed in watercolour. Amongst these destinations was notably the Fowey estuary in Cornwall, which is depicted in the present lot with a dreamlike charm and cautious optimism for the future.

Southall studied at the Birmingham School of Art, and is of the most important to come out of the 1880s Birmingham Group. Inspired by the ideas of Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, and William Morris, the Birmingham Group was devoted to Arts and Crafts' values of design, craftsmanship and socialism, and can be seen as a critical link between the Pre-Raphaelites and the emerging Slade Symbolists. Southall was elected an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) in 1898, Member in 1902, Professor of Painting in 1933 and finally President in 1939, remaining in this post until his death in 1944.

Southall's works are contained in numerous permanent collections across the country, and has been exhibited internationally by the British Government.