Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 88W
Frank Markham Skipworth, ROI RP(British, 1854-1929)Beautifying Sissie 35 x 40 1/2in (89 x 103.4cm)
20 November 2019, 13:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$13,825 inc. premium
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Frank Markham Skipworth, ROI RP (British, 1854-1929)
Beautifying Sissie
signed and dated 'F. M. Skipworth. 86.' (lower left); signed, inscribed and titled 'F. Markham Skipworth / Beautifying Sissie' (on an old exhibition label affixed to the stretcher)
oil on canvas
35 x 40 1/2in (89 x 103.4cm)
signed and dated 'F. M. Skipworth. 86.' (lower left); signed, inscribed and titled 'F. Markham Skipworth / Beautifying Sissie' (on an old exhibition label affixed to the stretcher)
oil on canvas
35 x 40 1/2in (89 x 103.4cm)
Footnotes
Provenance
Hammer Galleries, New York.
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, no. 1053 (as 'Keep still while I make you pretty, dear').
In 1886, Skipworth exhibited two paintings at the Royal Academy, one of which carried the title Keep still while I make you pretty, dear and which is very likely the present painting. The large scale of the work and the old exhibition label bearing the artist's address indicate that this painting is the exhibited work. The other exhibited painting was a portrait of Miss Skipworth, daughter of G.B. Skipworth, Esq., probably a niece of the artist.
Skipworth's skill as a genre painter is clearly evident in this composition. The languid pose of the seated woman is surely derived from his glorious composition Indolence from 1884, itself echoed later in Sir Frederic Leighton's Flaming June from 1895, complete with auburn hair and bright-orange dress.
Skipworth was evidently strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite current through his teacher, Sir Edward John Pointer, and was a proponent of the British Aesthetic Movement's tenet 'art for art's sake'. According to it, art did not need to teach a lesson or provide a morally uplifting message but could simply reflect a mood or a feeling. Skipworth completed his education in William Bouguereau's studio from 1883 to 1884, which added another level of polish to his already accomplished style.