Landscape Paintings of Kempsey by B.W. Leader

On this page: 'Sabrina's Stream' and 'Kempsey on the River Severn', Victorian landscape paintings of Kempsey by Benjamin Williams Leader.

Sabrina's Stream

Paintings attract a lot of interest

"THREE oil paintings by one of Worcester's most distinguished artist are expected to fetch a total of £74,000 when they are auctioned at Sotheby's in London next month.
The most sought-after picture of the trio by Benjamin Williams Leader is Sabrina's Stream, which is a view across the River Severn from below Worcester looking towards Kempsey Church.
This picture alone is valued at between £30,000 to £50,000 but Sotheby's is confident it could fetch more than this pre-sale estimate.
The other paintings are Waiting for the Ferry Boat at the head of Derwent Water, which could go for £18,000 and On the Llugwy Below Capel Curig valued at £4,000 to £6,000.
Leader was born in Worcester on March 12, 1831, the third of eleven children, and educated at Worcester's Royal Grammar School.
After leaving school he worked as a clerk at the bank of Farley, Lavender and Owen.
He spent time in Paris where he took the opportunity to study at the Barbizon School of landscape painting.
The auction will be held on Wednesday, March 22."

Source: Evening News, Thursday, March 2, 2000. Page 10.

Artist's auction success

AN oil painting by one of Worcester's best-known artists has gone under the hammer for twice as much as expected.
Benjamin Williams Leader's 1889 work Sabrina's Stream was sold for £85,100 at Sotheby's. It's pre-sale estimate was £35,000 to £50,000.
The painting - a replica of one exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1889 - features Kempsey Church from the opposite side of the Severn - which the Romans called Sabrina.
Leader, who was born in 1831 and educated at the Royal Grammar School, spent time in Paris and was influenced by Baptiste-Camille Corot.
This is evident in the soft handling of the paint surface in Sabrina's Stream, especially in the detail of the trees, and the placement of small figures in vast landscapes.
Another picture by the artist, Waiting for the Ferry at the Head of Derwent Water, went for £19,550.
A drawing of Croome by the renown gardener Capability Brown was snapped up for £2,990 at the same auction in London.

Related pages:

• The River Severn
• The Legend of Sabrina
• The Romans in Kempsey
• Kempsey Church

Further reading:
Wood, Ruth Benjamin Williams Leader R.A., 1831-1923 : his life and paintings Woodbridge, Suffolk : Antique Collectors' Club, c1998. ND497.L434 .W66 1998

Berrow's Journal - Friday 16 June 2000

Severn picture Sells at Auction for £145,000

An oil painting by one of Worcestershire's most outstanding artists has been sold for £145,000 at a London auction. Kempsey on the River Severn: painted in 1883 by Benjamin Williams Leader - was expected to fetch between £60 and £85,000 at Christies on Tuesday.

But it was bought for a staggering £60,000 more - a record price for a Leader painting - by an anonymous buyer.

The painting was owned by art dealers MacConnal-Mason and Sons until director David Mason - a former BBC TV antiques roadshow expert - sold it to a charity youth club 30 years ago.

"I sold it back then for £12,000 and was willing to bid up to £100,000 at the Christies auction to re-acquire it," Mr Mason said.

"It's one of the best Leader paintings ever, as he was at his best in 1888.

"It was painted bang on his Worcester period with the sun setting over the water in golds and reds. In earlier years he wasn't as colourful and later the quality wasn't as good."

Leader sold the picture in 1883 for £700 six years before choosing the same scene again for Sabrina's Stream - The River Severn sold at Sotheby's for £85,000 three months ago.

Leader's biographer Ruth Wood said during his lifetime he became one of the most prolific and widely-acclaimed of Victorian landscape painters.

"Influenced by his lifelong admiration of John Constable, Leader's extensive coverage of the countryside and coastal scenes reveal a distinctive style," she added.

© 2000 - Andy Morrall

Last updated 27^th June 2002.

E-mail: andymorrall@geocities.com

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