Sir Frederic William Burton, RHA, FSA (Irish, 1816-1900) The Lilac Seller 51 x 28.5 cm. (20 1/16...

Sir Frederic William Burton, RHA, FSA (Irish, 1816-1900) The Lilac Seller signed with initials 'FWB' (lower right) watercolour and bodycolour 51 x 28.5 cm. (20 1/16 x 11 1/4 in.) Footnotes: Provenance Sale; Phillips, London, 9 November 1999, lot 91 Private Collection, Ireland Exhibited London, Old Watercolour Society, 1863 Frederic William Burton was a talented artist with a keen intellect, whose oeuvre encompassed miniatures, portraits, landscapes, and narrative paintings. The Lilac Seller is a work of his later career reflecting both his interest in Northern European art and the increasing influence of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. The watercolour illustrates a young flower seller holding a basket of lilacs, kneeling on flagstones set among medieval buildings. In 1863, Burton, listed as a member, showed three works at the 59th exhibition of the Old Watercolour Society (Royal Watercolour Society), submitted from his address in Kensington, where he had lived since 1861. No.234 titled, German Lilacs, was most likely The Lilac Seller, the only work of that title that Burton exhibited, and the only occasion that he showed it. (The other works were Dreams and Iostephane). 'The Times' (30 April 1863) reported: 'This year's exhibition includes examples of artists so consummate in their respective kinds that it is difficult to believe that watercolour art can be carried further than we see it in their works. Such men are W. Hunt and Burton'. The reviewer pointed out, 'F.W. Burton aims at higher results than Hunt, his small figure pictures have a delicacy and refinement of feeling expressed by a patient perfection of workmanship', and further remarked on Burton's 'refinement of drawing and loveliness of colour'. The subject matter of The Lilac Seller was drawn from Burton's German studies, which he continued to use when he settled in London in 1858. Between 1851-1858, the artist had lived in Munich (including a year in Nuremberg), when he travelled extensively executing numerous studies that included medieval buildings (see Faust's First Sight of Marguerite, 1857, NGI.19602), costumes and headdresses (see Kneeling Woman, NGI.19370), and focusing on themes such as, The German Apple Girl (NGI.2396). His signature 'FWB' on the stone step in the foreground of The Lilac Seller, would be replicated on his most well-known work Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs, 1864, (NGI.2358). During his subsequent career in London, Burton executed significant portraits of Mrs George Smith and the novelist George Eliot, important narrative paintings including, The Child Miranda, The Knight's Esquire, Cassandra Fedele, and his major work, Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs. In 1874, he was appointed Director of the National Gallery, London, a post he held with distinction for twenty years. He is buried in Dublin. We are grateful to Dr Marie Bourke for compiling this catalogue entry. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing