About this lot
Description
Thomas P. Hall (British, fl. 1837-1867)
Caught in the Rain - two girls with their King Charles Spaniel sheltering from the rain
signed with monogram (lower right)
oil on canvas
61 x 45cm
Exhibited:
London, Society of British Artists, 1867, no. 411, as 'Caught in the Rain'
Footnote:
Thomas P. Hall’s highly sentimentalised image shows two young women taking refuge from an autumn shower under a sycamore tree. It is a prime example of Victorian narrative painting, a genre that rose to prominence in the mid-nineteenth century and became associated specifically with the English national character.
Unlike history painting executed in the grand manner - which was the dominant artist genre on the Continent - English narrative painting was anchored in opposing traits: trivial rather than momentous events, realism rather than idealism, the present as opposed to the past, and the private rather than the public world. Narrative works, such as Hall’s Caught in the Rain, invited Victorian audiences to read into the image and take pleasure in their interpretation of the scene in relation to their daily lives.
Condition report:
93.5 x 78cm (framed)
The painting is executed in oil. It was not possible to examine the reverse of the painting, a stretcher is clearly evident but little evidence of canvas texture is visible in the paint layer which is smoothly applied. There is some cracking in the paint layers, at the left hand side a vertical line follows the stretcher bar behind. In the forehead of the girl to the left is an area of cracking with raised edges. Overall the paint layer is in a good condition. The varnish is clear and even.
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