Frederick T. Sibley (1837-1912), Winter Scene In North Wales

Frederick T. Sibley (1837-1912)

Winter scene in North Wales

Pastel on board, cm 122 ,5 x 81,5

With frame cm 151,5 x 111

Signed in the lower left "FT Sibley 1893"

The work depicts a bright winter landscape that is identified with the gentle valleys of the region of Wales, in England. A snow-covered peak serves as a backdrop to a stone bridge suspended between the rocks that make up the rugged British landscape. The painting is part of that pictorial current called Romanticism which takes its cue from the nineteenth century German cultural and philosophical climate thanks to authors such as Caspar David Friedrich, then spread in England with William Turner and John Constable. Romantic art was based on the principle of the sublime, that is in the man-nature relationship it was the second to have the upper hand over the first, which could do nothing in front of its beauty, able to spring in the human soul contrasting feelings of uneasiness and mysticism. The author of the painting is identified in Frederick T. Sibley (1837-1912), an English artist who founded with other artists the Royal Cambrian Academy at the end of the 19th century, the first British colony of artists. The association emerged from David Cox’s summer stays in Betws-y-Coed between 1844 and 1856. The seven men who launched the Academy were all devoted to the colony of artists, many of whom originated from north-west England where Betws-y-Coed was easily accessible by train. In 1881 the Conwy Valley, in North Wales, was at the height of its reputation as an academy hosting a large number of professional and amateur artists. The prospect of seeing painters at work has attracted many visitors, and as a result the seaside town of Llandudno has emerged as a hub for the sale of many of these works. Established in 1881 by Queen Victoria, the Royal Cambrian Academy is a centre of artistic excellence in Wales, designed to showcase works by members of the Academy, promote quality emerging artists, organise historical exhibitions and provide a vibrant place for education. In 1887 Sibley was counted among the society’s academics and exhibited at the annual RCA exhibition the painting Bridge and Fall at Nant Mill, for sale for £80 and in 1890 he exhibited A Lonely Shore.

The object is in good condition