A woman of no importance? Mrs Workman’s collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art

This article discusses Elizabeth Workman’s collection in the context of the early reception of Impressionism by women artists in Britain and the USA. In the 1920s Elizabeth Russell Workman (1874–1962) was recognized as one of the most enlightened collectors of her generation in Britain; Percy Wyndham Lewis described her as ‘one of the only people in England to understand French painting’. She began collecting French Impressionism well before more prominent collectors such as Samuel Courtauld and in several ways was more adventurous in her tastes. And yet today, not only is her important collection of modern French art all but forgotten, Elizabeth Workman herself remains an invisible, unknown figure, occasionally listed in provenance histories, and more often than not under her husband’s name. Born and brought up in Rhu, Dunbartonshire, Elizabeth lived in London with her husband Robert, a prominent shipowner. Her collection included works not only by Scottish contemporary artists, acquired from the early 1900s onwards, but also by Monet, Degas, Sisley, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Vuillard, Matisse, Picasso, and Braque, the bulk of which were bought through the dealers Reid & Lefèvre just after the First World War. However, when Robert’s business ran into financial difficulties in the late 1920s much of the collection was dispersed, with the result that its full extent and importance has never properly been recognized. Drawing on material in the family archive, as well as information from sale catalogues and dealer stock books, this article establishes a more comprehensive overview of the Workman collection. Its aim is to reassess Elizabeth’s importance as a British collector in the interwar period and to identify her individual tastes, taking into consideration the changing economic context. It also draws parallels with earlier patterns of collecting among women collectors of the previous generation, especially those whose contribution has been overshadowed by the activities of a spouse or agent

Alexander Reid in context: collecting and dealing in Scotland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

The thesis traces the whole of Alexander Reid's life (1854- 1928), the development of his career as an art dealer in Glasgow, and his influence on Scottish collectors between 1889 and 1925. This is set in the wider context of dealing practice in Britain and France, and emphasis is given to the role of the dealer in the career of the artists he represents. Attention is drawn to the development of taste in Scotland and to the distinctive characteristics of Scottish taste (for instance, for the Hague School). The main text is divided chronologically into six time sections or chapters, each of which is introduced by an overall view of the period, including biographical details and information on any exhibitions or gallery changes which took place during that time. Specific themes are discussed, including Reid's patronage of contemporary Scottish art and his promotion of French art during a particular period. The first chapter covers Reid's youth and early experiences of dealing in Glasgow. This first section also gives a general background to the period and addresses such issues as taste in Scotland during the 1870s and 1880s. The second chapter takes in Reid's education and maturity in Paris, his friendship with the Van Gogh brothers and the development of his own advanced tastes in art. The third chapter is concerned with the setting up of Reid's Glasgow gallery, La Societe des Beaux-Arts, in 1889, his patronage of the Glasgow Boys and his promotion of Whistler and Impressionist art during the 1890s. The fourth chapter deals with the period of recession and retrenchment at the beginning of the 20th century and up to the First World War. The fifth chapter celebrates Reid's achievements during the post-war boom of the 1920s, his patronage of the Scottish Colourists and the establishment in Scotland of a taste for Impressionism. The final section covers the period after Reid's retirement, the merger of Reid's gallery with the Lefdvre gallery in London and the final closure of La Societe des Beaux-Arts in 1932. The appendices include two important lists of collectors and dealers associated with Reid, together with a list of located works handled by Reid

Paysage sauvage, paysage moderne, paysage pittoresque : Monet et Guillaumin dans la vallée de la Creuse

Les bords de la Sédelle forment un contraste étrange avec ceux de la Creuse. Autant l’une est riante, pleine de verdure, de feuillages et de fougères, autant l’autre est sauvage et impressionnante. Les grandes falaises noirâtres, en face du confluent des deux cours d’eaux, sont tout à fait caractéristiques. Crozant est un village situé au confluent de la Sédelle et de la Creuse. Les caractéristiques des deux rivières sont très différentes, comme le remarquait déjà en 1904 l’auteur de..