William Etty, R.A.

Elhanen Bicknell (1788–1861), Herne Hill, by June 1849;

His posthumous sale, London, Christie's, 25 April 1863, lot 63 (as 'W. Etty, R.A.'), for 98 guineas;

Where acquired by his son, Henry Sanford Bicknell (1818–1880), Barcombe House, near Lewes;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 14 November 2013, lot 31 (as William Etty, R.A.);

Where acquired by the present owner.

London, Society of Arts, William Etty, R.A., June 1849, no. 30 (lent by Elhanen Bicknell).

E.K. Waterhouse, A catalogue of the pictures and studies of William Etty, R.A., exh. cat., London 1849, p. 24, no. 30;

G.F. Waagen, Treasures of art in Great Britain, vol. II, London 1854, p. 353 ('of singular grace, and unusually careful completion');

Anon., 'The Bicknell Collection', in The Times, no. 24,543, 27 April 1863, p. 12 ('a splendid piece of colouring').

William Etty explored the subject of Venus and Cupid on various occasions, deploying several different compositions. The present work, from the collection of Elhanen Bicknell, is particularly close in composition and handling to Etty's smaller Venus and Cupid, painted on canvas, at York Art Gallery.¹ The figure of Cupid, however, is closer still to that of the child in Etty's Flowers of the Forest, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836 and is likewise now hung at the York Art Gallery.² Intriguingly, this latter picture was purchased in 1867 by Henry Sanford Bicknell, who had already bought the present Venus and Cupid at his father's posthumous sale of 1863 (see Provenance).

Dennis Farr suggested that the York Venus and Cupid was the painting exhibited at the British Institution, London, in 1830 with this same title, as the framed measurements given in that year's catalogue matched those of the York picture. The same might be argued for the present work. However, the catalogue of the Etty retrospective exhibition at the Society of Arts, London, in 1849 states that a Venus and Cupid lent by C.W. Wass (no. 35) was the work shown at the British Institution in 1830, while indicating that the Bicknell picture, also in the 1849 exhibition (no. 30; see Exhibited), had not been shown previously and was painted in 1842. If this date is correct, the Bicknell painting is later than the York Venus and Cupid, which Farr assigns to the early 1830s. The York picture would thus have provided the model for Bicknell's, rather than vice-versa.

Note on Provenance

The present Venus and Cupid, perhaps bought direct from the artist, was one of three paintings by Etty belonging to Elhanen Bicknell and included in the posthumous sale of his 'renowned collection of English Pictures and Sculpture' at Christie's, London, on 25 April 1863. Having made a fortune in the Pacific sperm-whale fishing industry, Bicknell was among the leading collectors of contemporary British art in the mid-nineteenth century, best known as one of Turner's most important patrons.

¹ Inv. no. 77; oil on canvas, 38.5 x 51 cm. D. Farr, William Etty, London 1958, p. 155, no. 91, reproduced pl. 35a.

² Inv. no. 90; oil on canvas, 63 x 78 cm. Farr 1958, p. 145, no. 57, reproduced pl. 68.