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Lot Essay
This poignant picture, appended by verses written by the artist, was shown at the Royal Academy in 1918. Olivier was already well known as a war artist by then, and would go on to record the Treaty of Versailles the following summer, which concluded the First World War. This picture was a more personal reflection on love and the cycle of life.
The warm Mediterranean light and coast reflect the artist’s love of the landscape of Liguria. The Olivier family had an estate at La Mortola, next to the famous garden of that name created by Sir Thomas Hanbury. There he found respite from painting commissioned works by painting the landscape for pleasure. In this picture family members and willing locals were used as models. Olivier’s daughter, with long hair, kneels in the foreground, while the village postman stands with his arm around his sweetheart to the left. To the right can be seen the distinctive bagpipes of Italy – the zompogna. The scale of the picture, and the classical draperies, albeit cut in early 20th Century fashion, evoke the classical masterpieces of Olivier’s older friends and neighbours. Alma-Tadema was an early mentor, and it is tempting to see an echo in this picture of his magnum opus, The Roses of Heliogabalus. Leighton was also a near neighbour in Kensington, and Olivier owned, perhaps a gift from the artist, a sketch by Leighton of his beloved Capri.
One of Olivier’s most successful pictures in the saleroom, Summer is Icumen in, sold at Sotheby’s, 15 July 2009, lot 17 (£331,250), shared a floral theme. This picture hung until recently, where it had passed by descent, at 7 Airlie Gardens, Kensington, the London house owned by the artist. During his teenage years, the house was home to the renowned actor Sir Laurence Olivier, the artist’s nephew.
The warm Mediterranean light and coast reflect the artist’s love of the landscape of Liguria. The Olivier family had an estate at La Mortola, next to the famous garden of that name created by Sir Thomas Hanbury. There he found respite from painting commissioned works by painting the landscape for pleasure. In this picture family members and willing locals were used as models. Olivier’s daughter, with long hair, kneels in the foreground, while the village postman stands with his arm around his sweetheart to the left. To the right can be seen the distinctive bagpipes of Italy – the zompogna. The scale of the picture, and the classical draperies, albeit cut in early 20th Century fashion, evoke the classical masterpieces of Olivier’s older friends and neighbours. Alma-Tadema was an early mentor, and it is tempting to see an echo in this picture of his magnum opus, The Roses of Heliogabalus. Leighton was also a near neighbour in Kensington, and Olivier owned, perhaps a gift from the artist, a sketch by Leighton of his beloved Capri.
One of Olivier’s most successful pictures in the saleroom, Summer is Icumen in, sold at Sotheby’s, 15 July 2009, lot 17 (£331,250), shared a floral theme. This picture hung until recently, where it had passed by descent, at 7 Airlie Gardens, Kensington, the London house owned by the artist. During his teenage years, the house was home to the renowned actor Sir Laurence Olivier, the artist’s nephew.