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'London Bus Horse.' Harry Becker lived in rural Suffolk during the early years of the 20thC and was probably the last artist of note to record the lives of the farming community in Eastern England before the advent of the tractor which swept away centuries of hard manual labour.
When Richard Eurich painted 'Flood Water,' during the 1950s, he was recognised as one of Britain’s leading contemporary artists who had made a name for himself through his highly detailed maritime scenes made during the Second World War.
William Roberts tried to sell 'In the Straight,' and another racehorse painting to the Royal Academy in 1949 - though one picture was accepted it was not hung: 'perhaps because only the Munnings' breed of racehorse is allowed to show its paces there,' he quipped.
Toulouse-Lautrec has painted the model Carmen Gaudin turning towards a light source so shadows fall across her face. Modestly dressed in dark, simple clothing, what is remarkable is Lautrec’s depiction of Carmen’s flaming red hair, augmented by her deep red lips.
'Seascape, Lady with Parasol.' (1900). Some of JD Fergusson's works might be mistaken for unknown pictures by Matisse. Fergusson is an eye-catching artist, and in the fiercely coloured paintings he made before the First World War he shows exceptional character and vitality.
'Lighting Up.' Leslie Worth was one of Britain's finest watercolourists. Self-taught he learned by trial and error and by studying the English masters. Rooted largely in the native Romantic and literary traditions, he produced wonderfully quirky pieces of work.
This image dating from 1911 was taken by Herbert Ponting the official photographer of Captain Scott's expedition to the south pole. It shows dogs resting beneath the Barne Glacier, when hopes were still high for the success of the venture.
'At the Theatre.' Mid-19thC Paris was the capital of Europe, a place of extremes of wealth and poverty, a city crammed with artists and artisans, with rogues and revolutionaries. The literary chronicler of this was Honoré de Balzac, the man who drew it was Honoré Daumier.
Stanley Spencer's portrait is of his brother-in-law and war artist Richard Carline. Stan became a great artistic influence on Richard's work and many of the figures and the tonality in his paintings are close in style to Stanley's works of the 1910s and 1920s.
John Minton's 'Summer Landscape,' sees crescent shapes held in the contours of hills, sea colours in the sky, a near abstract network of fields crisscrossed with tall corn. Near the centre are two figures in characteristic Minton pose – head deep in hand.