Head study of a girl, drawn for Charles Rowley

Details

ARTHUR HUGHES (BRITISH, 1830-1915)
Head study of a girl, drawn for Charles Rowley
signed, inscribed and dated 'Chas Rowley from Arthur Hughes/ xmas 1903' (lower right)
sanguine chalk on paper
12 ¼ x 9 3/8 in. (31 x 23.7 cm.)

Provenance

Charles Rowley.
Anonymous sale; Phillips, London, 18 July 1988, lot 16 (£700 to Nahum).
with Peter Nahum, London, where purchased by the present owner, January 1989.

Literature

L. Roberts, Arthur Hughes: his life and works, Woodbridge, 1997, p. 237, no. 416.

Exhibited

Richmond, Surrey, The Museum of Richmond, Arthur Hughes - The Last Pre-Raphaelite, 10 November 1998 - 13 March 1999, no. 25 (as 'A Young Lady').

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Alastair Plumb Specialist, Head of Sale, European Art

aplumb@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7752 3298

Lot Essay

Charles Rowley (1839-1933) was a Manchester picture framer, socialist and city councillor, and a great friend of Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893), who drew a portrait of him now in Manchester Art Gallery (1936.116). Rowley greatly admired the socialist ideas of William Morris, and became acquainted with the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle, conducting a lively correspondence with Walter Crane, among others. The delicate, ephemeral use of sanguine chalk here is typical of Hughes' drawing technique. He often gave drawings to friends, and it is possible that the sitter is related to Rowley.

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