Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Thomas Cooper Gotch
Death the Bride, Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Graphite on Paper

About the Item

Thomas Cooper Gotch RBA RI 1854 - 1931 Death the Bride Graphite on paper Image size: 44 x 34 inches Pre Raphaelite Style frame The title of the painting comes from Shakespeare. It is from Measure for Measure, Act III, scene I, line 86, where Claudio says: 'If I must die, I will encounter darkness as a bride and hug it in my arms.' Gotch uses poppies here to show death personified as a beautiful, morbid bride ready to embrace the viewer for eternity. With her head wreathed in lilies, she stands in a field of Opium Poppies further playing with the illusion of dangerous allure. This version of death is comforting, natural, and dangerous. Thomas Cooper Gotch (1854-1931) was an original member of the Newlyn colony of artists, the group that made such an impact on the late Victorian art world in England. He was a close and life-long friend of Henry Scott Tuke and Stanhope Forbes. From the mid 1880s, he was a leading figure amongst the young artists who attempted to resist the hegemony of London’s Royal Academy of Art, being a founder member and secretary of the New English Art Club. After a trip to Florence in 1891, where he saw the paintings of Quattrocento artists such as Fra Angelico and Benozzo Gozzoli, Gotch's style changed quite dramatically. He abandoned the realism and monochromatic blues and greys of the Newlyn School for highly decorative allegorical subjects, vibrant colours and an attention to detail akin to that of the Pre-Raphaelites. This work is a preliminary sketch for what many regarded to be Gotch's master work, 'Death the Bride'.
  • Creator:
    Thomas Cooper Gotch (1854 - 1931)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 44 in (111.76 cm)Width: 34 in (86.36 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    1 of 1Price: $9,777
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU5245987302

More From This Seller

View All
A Triptych: The Olympic Games, Modern British Drawing, Ancient Greek, Nude
By James Stroudley
Located in London, GB
Graphite on paper Image size of rectangular works: 33 x 43 inches (84 x 109 cm) Image size of arched central work: 38 1/4 x 29 inches (97 x 73.5 cm) Provenance Private Collection of Seymour Stein, Vice President of Warner Bros Records Sotheby's 'Modern British and Irish Art,' London, 19 May 2004, lot 92 The three impressive drawings are studies for Stroudley’s ‘Olympic Games in a Demi-Lune’. From left to right the studies depict groups of athletes practicing diving, a conversing crowd of oarsmen, hurdlers mid jump and a collection of javelin throwers. This study was created in 1930 when Stroudley practiced in the British School in Rome. There are few surviving works from Stroudley’s short stay in Rome, with the compositions from his Rome period being among the last wholly successful decorative cycles produced by a Rome Scholar prior to World War II. Indeed, as can be seen here, his drawings from this period are technically brilliant and even bear comparison with those of Eric Kennington. James Stroudley Stroudley was born in London on 17 June 1906, the son of James Stroudley, showcard and ticket writer. He studied at Clapham School of Art (1923-27) and then at the Royal College of Art (1927-30), where his teachers included Alan Gwynne-Jones and William Rothenstein. As a recipient of the first Abbey Scholarship he was able to spend three years in Italy from 1930, where he absorbed the influences of Giotto and Piero della Francesca, and produced one of the last wholly satisfying decorative cycles by a Rome Scholar of the period. From 1934, he exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists, and was elected to its membership in the following year. From the Second World War – in which he worked with the Camouflage Unit – Stroudley taught at St Martin’s School of Art and was a visiting lecturer at the Royal Academy Schools. Though he continued to live in London, his later work, exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1955, indicated regular painting trips to Kent and Sussex coasts. However, much of his later work was abstract. In 1971, his former student, Peter Coker, paid homage to Stroudley by including his work in the exhibition ‘Pupil & Masters’, held at Westgate House, Long Melford, Suffolk. Stroudley married three times, and his wives included the fashion artist to the Sun newspaper...
Category

1930s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

Study for Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon
Located in London, GB
Graphite on paper Image size: 7 1/2 x 9 inches (19 x 23 cm) Carved gilt frame Literature Illustrated in Malcolm Bell's 'Sir Edward Burne-Jones, A Record and Review', London, 1899, p.127. Provenance Major Charles Sydney Goldman 1958 By descent to his Sons John and Margaret Monck (John Goldman Monck) 1958-1963 Commander Victor Robert Penryn Monck (Victor Robert Penryn Monk Goldman) 1958-1963 Christie's London (Christie, Manson and Woods) 1963, John Monck and Cmdr Penryn Monck sale 26 April 1963 part lot 71 Sir John Richardson, 2019 Burne-Jones decided that the folds in the drapery in this study were too complex for the final painting and fairly soon after he simplified the draperies. The work is a drapery study for the seated figures at the centre of Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones monumental The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico). The artist spent seventeen years working on the complex narrative, even moving his studio to a larger space to accommodate the canvas. Born as a commission from his patron George Howard, 9th Earl of Carlisle, to decorate a wall in his library at Naworth Castle, The Sleep of Arthur in Avalon was left unfinished in Burne-Jones’ studio upon his death. The work was bequeathed to a studio neighbour whose descendants sold it at auction in 1963, where it was purchased by Luis A. Ferré, politician and founder of the Museo de Arte de Ponce. To his friends and family, Burne-Jones was known for his 'unpainted masterpieces'. Indeed, from his youth he made swift sketches, such as this study, that appeared effortless in contrast to his carefully crafted paintings and allowed him to work out ideas and refine details. He also drew outside of the studio, and his contemporaries remarked at his uncanny ability to do so while fully engaged in other activities. The painter W. Graham...
Category

19th Century Victorian Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

The Gathering, Train Station Pastel, British Mid 20th Century
By Peter Gardner
Located in London, GB
Pastel and graphite on paper Image size: 8 1/4 x 5 inches (21 x 12.75 cm) Contemporary style handmade frame The Artist Peter Gardner was born in London in 1921.  He studied at the ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Graphite

Europa and the Bull, 20th Century British Graphite Drawing, Signed
Located in London, GB
Graphite on paper, signed with stamp Image size: 9 x 6 ¾ inches Acid free mount Born in London, Moody studied at Battersea Polytechnic and at Royal College of Art under William Roth...
Category

20th Century English School Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Approaching Train, Mid-20th Century Graphite Sketch, White Gold Frame
By Gordon Scott
Located in London, GB
Pencil on Paper Image size: 10 x 8 ¾ inches White Gold Frame The Artist Gordon Scott was trained at the Royal College of Art (1934-38) under Gilbert Spencer, Alan Sorrell and Charl...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

The Cyclist, 20th Century English Graphite Sketch
By Gordon Scott
Located in London, GB
Pencil on Paper Image size: 18 1/2 x 14 inches (45.75 x 35.5 cm) White gold frame Gordon Scott Scott was trained at the Royal College of Art (1934-38) under Gilbert Spencer, Alan So...
Category

20th Century Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

You May Also Like

" Studio per Ritratto di Lady Anne Simms Reeve of Brancaster Hall " 1870 ca
Located in Torino, IT
Raro studio dell'artista Preraffaellita Frederick Sandys,Studio per l’opera Portrait of a Lady,( Anne Simms Reeve of Brancaster Hall, Norfolk) proprie...
Category

1870s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Graphite

" Studio per ritratto di Philip Bedingfeld" 1870 ca cm. 25 x 36
Located in Torino, IT
Studio a matita e pastelli per lo splendido ritratto di Philip Bedingfeld proprietà del Museo del Norfolk Frederick Sandys, (Norwich, 1º maggio1829 ...
Category

1870s Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Graphite, Paper

The Argument
Located in New York, NY
Signed and inscribed on a label on the verso: No. 1/ The Argument/ W. Cave Thomas/ 203 Camden Rd/ NW Provenance: Christie’s, London, 6 November 1995, lot 88. Private Collection, London. This powerful watercolor is a mature work by the little-known Victorian painter William Cave Thomas...
Category

19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Pencil

Study of an Angel by British Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir William Blake Richmond
By Sir William Blake Richmond
Located in London, GB
SIR WILLIAM BLAKE RICHMOND, RA (1842-1921) Study of an Angel Pencil on the artist’s writing paper for Beavor Lodge, Hammersmith Unframed 22.5 by 17 cm., 9 by 6 ¾ in. (mount size ...
Category

1890s Pre-Raphaelite Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Sir William Blake Richmond - An Angel - 19th Century British Drawing
By Sir William Blake Richmond
Located in London, GB
SIR WILLIAM BLAKE RICHMOND, RA (1842-1921) Study of an Angel Pencil Unframed, in mount only 18.5 by 10.5 cm., 7 ¼ by 4 ¼ in. (mount size 32 by 25 cm., 12 ½ by 10 in.) William Bl...
Category

Late 19th Century Pre-Raphaelite Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

Children Amongst Foxgloves - Pink Flowers, Female Illustrator of The Golden Age
Located in Miami, FL
Children Amongst Foxgloves - Female Illustrator of The Golden Age by a female illustrator of The Golden Age Watercolor on paper, signed 'A. Bowerley' lower left. 11 x 20 in. (sight)...
Category

Early 1900s Pre-Raphaelite Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper, Pencil

Recently Viewed

View All