Joseph Severn Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Joseph Severn Art Value Price Guide

Dec. 04, 2021
Joseph Severn (English, 1793-1879), Portrait of Lady Eglinton and Son
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Joseph Severn (English, 1793-1879), Portrait of Lady Eglinton and Son oil on canvas (lined), signed and dated at lower right, presented in a later gilt frame. Stretcher size 44 x 35 in.; Frame dimensions 49 3/4 x 40 1/2 in. Joseph Severn was an English portrait and history painter. He is perhaps best remembered now as a close personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. In 1820, Severn accompanied Keats to Rome and served as his nurse for the remaining three months of Keats' brief life. Severn remained in Rome following Keats' death and forged a successful career as an artist. He was instrumental in the co-founding the British Academy of the Fine Arts in Rome. He proved a versatile talent, exhibiting history paintings, portraits, landscapes, and miniatures. He also received commissions for altarpieces and frescoes. Severn returned to England in 1841 and traveled throughout the country, painting portraits to support his family. In 1843 he was invited to Eglinton Castle in Scotland to paint the portraits of Lady Eglinton and her three year old son. Theresa Newcomen, Countess of Eglinton and Winton, was the half-sister of Severn's wife, Elizabeth Montgomerie. The two families were close, with the earl and countess providing some financial and professional support for the Severn family. This portrait depicts a beautiful Lady Eglinton draped in diamonds and pearls and holding a pink and white striped camellia. In her lap sits her oldest son, Archibald William Montgomerie, the future 14th earl. Her son is depicted in the midst of clasping a bejeweled snake bracelet on his mother's wrist. Jewelry with serpent motifs reached the zenith of their popularity during the reign of Queen Victoria. Snake jewels during the Victorian era symbolized everlasting love, wisdom and power. Severn's paintings can today be found in some of the most important museums in London, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate Britain. Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com
Leland Little Auctions
Nov. 26, 2021
Severn, Joseph: Junge, italienische Bäuerin mit Kind bei der Rast
Est: -
Severn, Joseph — Young Italian peasant woman with child at rest (London 1793-1879 Rome) Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and with place name on the right side of the stone ''J. Severn / Rome / 1836''. 75 x 61 cm. - Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery London and the Victotia and Albert Museum. - Lit. Nagler, Künstlerlexikon, vol. 16. // Severn, Joseph — Junge, italienische Bäuerin mit Kind bei der Rast — (London 1793-1879 Rom) Öl/Lwd. Rechts auf dem Stein sign., Ortsbez. und Dat. "J. Severn / Rome / 1836". 75 x 61 cm. - Bildnisse in der National Portrait Gallery London und im Victoria and Albert Museum. - Lit. Nagler, Künstlerlexikon, Bd. 16.
Kunstauktionshaus Schlosser
Jun. 06, 2021
Joseph Severn "Angelica Rescued" Oil on Canvas
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
Joseph Severn (English, 1793-1879) oil on canvas, "Angelica Rescued" or "Roger Freeing Angelica (Roger délivrant Angélique," 1847, a scene inspired by the epic Italian poem "Orlando Furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto depicting the maiden being saved by a knight riding a hippogriff, signed and dated lower right: "Severn 1847." Image: 49" H x 39" W; frame: 56" H x 45" W x 2" D. Provenance: Property from an East Village estate.
Auctions at Showplace
Apr. 28, 2021
Joseph Severn (1793-1872) Portrait of John Keats at Wentworth Place on the
Est: £20,000 - £30,000
Joseph Severn (1793-1872) Portrait of John Keats at Wentworth Place on the day of his composing 'Ode to a Nightingale' Joseph Severn (1793-1872) Portrait of John Keats at Wentworth Place on the day of his composing 'Ode to a Nightingale' Oil on canvas, 23¹/2 x 17¹/2 in. (59.7 x 44.5 cm). Signed and dated…
Christie's
Mar. 26, 2021
Severn, Joseph: Junge, italienische Bäuerin mit Kind bei der Rast
Est: -
Severn, Joseph — Young Italian peasant woman with child at rest (London 1793-1879 Rome) Oil on canvas. Signed, dated and with place name on the right side of the stone ''J. Severn / Rome / 1836''. 75 x 61 cm. - Portraits in the National Portrait Gallery London and the Victotia and Albert Museum. - Lit. Nagler, Künstlerlexikon, vol. 16. // Severn, Joseph Junge, italienische Bäuerin mit Kind bei der Rast (London 1793-1879 Rom) Öl/Lwd. Rechts auf dem Stein sign., Ortsbez. und Dat. ''J. Severn / Rome / 1836''. 75 x 61 cm. - Bildnisse in der National Portrait Gallery London und im Victoria and Albert Museum. - Lit. Nagler, Künstlerlexikon, Bd. 16.
Kunstauktionshaus Schlosser
Dec. 10, 2020
Joseph Severn (1793-1872) - Ophelia
Est: £30,000 - £50,000
Joseph Severn (1793-1872) Ophelia oil on canvas 45 ¼ x 56 ½ in. (115 x 143.5 cm.)
Christie's
Dec. 09, 2020
Joseph Severn (1793-1872) PORTRAIT OF JOHN KEATS AT WENTWORTH PLACE ON THE DAY OF HIS COMPOSING 'ODE TO A
Est: £50,000 - £80,000
SEVERN, Joseph (1793-1872). Portrait of John Keats at Wentworth Place on the day of his composing 'Ode to a Nightingale', signed and dated 'Severn/1834' (on the bookcase, lower left). Oil on canvas, 23O x 17O in. (59.7 x 44.5 cm.). The frame contains a lock of Keats's hair in a small window. Provenance: By direct descent from the first recipient of the portrait, John Hunter of Craigcrook (1801-1869) – the Roy Davids collection; his sale, Bonham's, London, 3 October 2005, lot 85 – private collection. One of the most celebrated images of Keats, painted by the friend in whose arms he died, framed with a lock of his hair. This is a second and subtly altered version ('with some important changes such as the open eye & raised up from the book') of Severn's famous posthumous portrait of his friend, based in part on Keats's death mask, which is now at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG 58). The first version was executed in 1821-23, in the years immediately following Severn's devoted attendance on Keats's agonising final months before his death in Rome on 23 February 1821, a period in which Keats's sufferings were so intense that Severn reported he would sometimes weep on waking to find himself still alive. A letter by Severn to George Scharf on 22 December [ 1859] describes the genesis of both versions: 'after the death of Keats the impression was so painfull on my mind that I made an effort to call up the most pleasant remembrance in this picture which is posthumous. This was the time he first fell ill & had written the Ode to the Nightingale (1819) on the mor[ning] of my visit to Hampstead I found him sitting with the two chairs as I have painted him & was struck with the first real symptoms of sadness in Keats so finely expressed in that Poem. (The room, the open window, the carpet and chairs are all exact portraits, even to the mezzotint portrait of Shakespeare given him by his old landlady in the Isle of Wight. After this time he lost his cheerfulness & I never saw him like himself again –). I had a draw[in]g of the room, chairs . done by Mr Charles Brown who was still living in the same house. / During life I had In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 45 done two portraits of Keats (both engraved) but not entire figures. / This little picture was sold to Mr Travers on the condition that I should be permitted to use it in doing another picture with some important changes such as the open eye & raised up from the book ...'. According to the NPG, it was this second version, with 'the open eye' that Severn chose to exhibit. Severn remained in Rome for the two decades after Keats's death, and at the time of the execution of the present version he was a successful artist, much in demand with British visitors, and was a moving force in the creation of the British Academy of the Fine Arts in Rome. His fortunes declined in the 1840s and 1850s, before he returned to Rome as British consul in 1861; he is buried beside Keats in the Protestant Cemetery. The provenance of this portrait is through John Hunter of Craigcrook (1801- 1869), a relative of the influential critic Francis, Lord Jeffrey, the editor of the Edinburgh Review. Its origins are recorded by a descendant of Hunter's: '... a picture of Keats, now in the possession of the writer of this article, which was presented to John Hunter by Keats' relatives after his death. It is an oil painting, a copy of the Severn portrait, and contains a lock of the poet's hair in the frame. It was given to Hunter in gratitude for persuading Francis Jeffrey to write a kinder review of Keats' last poem than any other critics had done. The Edinburgh Review reached Keats as he lay dying in Rome and did much to cheer his last days' (Helen Watt, John Hunter: Forgotten Tenant of Craigcrook, 1979). The portrait is noted somewhat critically by Keats's friend Charles Cowden Clarke, ‘the last [portrait by Severn], which is now in the possession of Mr. John Hunter, of Craig Crook, Edinburgh, may be an equally felicitous rendering of one look and manner; but I do not intimately recognize it' (Charles and Mary Cowden Clarke, Recollections of Writers, 1878). Hunter had an extensive literary circle, and the visitors to Craigcrook included Charles Dickens, who would no doubt have seen the portrait.
Christie's
Mar. 02, 2018
Joseph Severn The Bride Painting
Est: $100 - $200
19th Century; frame measuring 32in x 26in, tilted bride of Christ, signed lower right, overall condition is outstanding and original Provenance: Private Greensboro NC Collection
Mebane Antique Auction
Sep. 23, 2015
Joseph Severn, British (1793 - 1872), Edward Unwin Berry, M.N & Eliza Berry, graphite (2), each: 19 x 14 in. (48.3 x 35.6 cm)
Est: $800 - $1,200
both signed and dated 1848
Maynards Fine Art & Antiques
Jun. 24, 2015
Joseph Severn, British (1793-1872), Edward Unwin Berry, M.N & Eliza Berry, graphite (2), each: 19 x 14 in. (48.3 x 35.6 cm)
Est: $800 - $1,200
both signed and dated 1848
Maynards Fine Art & Antiques
Jun. 16, 2015
JOSEPH SEVERN, (BRITISH 1793-1879), MAIDENS SPIED ON BY SHEPHERD
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
JOSEPH SEVERN (british 1793-1879)/span MAIDENS SPIED ON BY SHEPHERD Signed, located, and dated 'J. Severn/ Rome 184*' bottom right, oil on canvas laid to masonite 31 1/4 x 42 in. (79.4 x 106.7cm) provenance: /spanPrivate Collection, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By descent in the family. Private Collection, Maryland.
Freeman's | Hindman
May. 27, 2015
JOSEPH SEVERN | A scene from The Tempest, Prospero and Ariel
Est: £3,000 - £4,000
oil on canvas, unlined
Sotheby's
Mar. 22, 2014
JOSEPH SEVERN (BRITISH 1793-1872). DRAWING OF A MAID AT REST UNDER A TREE.
Est: $500 - $800
Pen and ink on paper, 10 x 7 inches, sight. Signed "J. Severn" and dated 1826, l.l. Together with two small British drawings of romantic couples, circa 1850, framed as one. (2)
Bourgeault-Horan Antiquarians
Dec. 10, 2013
Joseph Severn (1793-1872), THE VINTAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE VINTAGE AT GENSANO IN ITALY), 1824-1825, Oil on canvas; titled "An Italian Vintage" with the Duke of Bedford inventory No. "424" to the nameplate, 49" x 40" - 124.5 x 101.6 cm.
Est: $5,000 - $7,000
Joseph Severn (1793-1872), BritishTHE VINTAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE VINTAGE AT GENSANO IN ITALY), 1824-1825; Oil on canvas; titled "An Italian Vintage" with the Duke of Bedford inventory No. "424" to the nameplate49" x 40" - 124.5 x 101.6 cm.Provenance: The Duke of Bedford, Woburn Abbey, No. 424;Sold at Christie's, London on 19 January 1951, lot 203;Purchased by Vladimir and Johanna Vanjecek, Bosch en Duin, the Netherlands in an antique shop in London, England, circa 1974-75;By descent through the family to the present Private Collection, CanadaExhibited: The Royal Academy as "The Vintage at Gensano in Italy" in 1827, No. 273Literature: Edited by Grant F. Scott, "Joseph Severn: Letters and Memoirs", 2005, Cornwall, pages 18,19, 67, 68 and 273;"The Vintage" is recorded at Woburn Abbey by George Scharf in his "Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures at Woburn Abbey", 1877Note: In Scott's "Joseph Severn Letters and Memoirs", it is stated that Severn was commissioned by the Duke of Bedford to paint this work in 1825, however in 1824, Severn mentions sketches for "The Vintage", a painting that took a year to complete. The work was purchased in 1827 by Lord William Russell, the brother of the Duke of Bedford. Severn was intent on creating a work different from his classical studies: "I determined that I would paint a Vintage composition, an upright picture with vines growing up an Elm---the men in the tree filling up baskets and lowering them down to the women who catch any falling grapes in their aprons". During the production of this painting, Severn took a creative leap and decided against the use of models. He convinced peasant women from Ariccia and Gensano (towns outside of Rome) to pose for him, so he would be able to portray the "unaffected simplicity" he was yearning for. This simplicity was derived from his desire to "find that elevated and abstract beauty of the antique sculpture in the living people". The candor and purity of the women pictured is paired with a complex and detailed background and a multitude of figures, sixteen in total.After its completion "The Vintage" was sold for 150 GBP and brought to England where it was hung in exhibition at the Royal Academy, the mastery of "The Vintage" was recognized by fellow painters Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Hayter and Augustus Calcott. "The Vintage" greatly increased Severn's popularity as a painter of Italian scenes and in general; so much so he was forced to turn down commissions. The success of "The Vintage" led Severn to exhibit eleven more paintings at the Royal Academy between 1827 and 1834. After the exhibition, "The Vintage" was brought to Woburn Abbey where it was hung among other works by distinguished contemporaries in the Duke of Bedford's collection. After its sale at Christie's in 1951, it's whereabouts were unknown, until now.
Waddington's
Jun. 18, 2013
Joseph Severn (1793-1872), British THE VINTAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE VINTAGE AT GENSANO IN ITALY), 1824-1825; Oil on canvas; titled "An Italian Vintage" with the Duke of Bedford inventory No. "424" to the nameplate49" x 40" - 124.5 x 101.6
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
Joseph Severn (1793-1872), British THE VINTAGE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE VINTAGE AT GENSANO IN ITALY), 1824-1825; Oil on canvas; titled "An Italian Vintage" with the Duke of Bedford inventory No. "424" to the nameplate49" x 40" - 124.5 x 101.6 cm.Provenance: The Duke of Bedford, Woburn Abbey, No. 424;Sold at Christie's, London on 19 January 1951, lot 203;Purchased by Vladimir and Johanna Vanjecek, Bosch en Duin, the Netherlands in an antique shop in London, England, circa 1974-75;By descent through the family to the present Private Collection, CanadaExhibited: The Royal Academy as "The Vintage at Gensano in Italy" in 1827, No. 273Literature: Edited by Grant F. Scott, "Joseph Severn: Letters and Memoirs", 2005, Cornwall, pages 18,19, 67, 68 and 273;"The Vintage" is recorded at Woburn Abbey by George Scharf in his "Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures at Woburn Abbey", 1877Note: In Scott's "Joseph Severn Letters and Memoirs", it is stated that Severn was commissioned by the Duke of Bedford to paint this work in 1825, however in 1824, Severn mentions sketches for "The Vintage", a painting that took a year to complete. The work was purchased in 1827 by Lord William Russell, the brother of the Duke of Bedford.Severn was intent on creating a work different from his classical studies: "I determined that I would paint a Vintage composition, an upright picture with vines growing up an Elm---the men in the tree filling up baskets and lowering them down to the women who catch any falling grapes in their aprons". During the production of this painting, Severn took a creative leap and decided against the use of models. He convinced peasant women from Ariccia and Gensano (towns outside of Rome) to pose for him, so he would be able to portray the "unaffected simplicity" he was yearning for. This simplicity was derived from his desire to "find that elevated and abstract beauty of the antique sculpture in the living people". The candor and purity of the women pictured is paired with a complex and detailed background and a multitude of figures, sixteen in total.After its completion "The Vintage" was sold for 150 GBP and brought to England where it was hung in exhibition at the Royal Academy, the mastery of "The Vintage" was recognized by fellow painters Sir Thomas Lawrence, George Hayter and Augustus Calcott. "The Vintage" greatly increased Severn's popularity, as a painter of Italian scenes and in general; so much so he was forced to turn down commissions. The success of "The Vintage" had led Severn to exhibit eleven more paintings at the Royal Academy between 1827 and 1834. After the exhibition, "The Vintage" was brought to Woburn Abbey where it was hung among other works by distinguished contemporaries in the Duke of Bedford's collection. After its sale at Christie's in 1951, it's whereabouts were unknown, until now.
Waddington's
Nov. 15, 2011
JOSEPH SEVERN
Est: £60,000 - £80,000
PROPERTY OF PRE-RAPHAELITE INC. 1793 - 1879 OPHELIA signed and dated l.r.: J. Severn/ 1860 oil on canvas 103 by 142.5cm., 44½ by 56in.
Sotheby's
Jan. 18, 2011
Joseph Severn (British, 1793-1879) Portrait of a lady
Est: £400 - £600
Portrait of a lady signed and dated 'J. Severn/ Sept. 9th 1850' (centre left), pencil, pastel and bodycolour 49 x 34.5cm (19 5/16 x 13 9/16in).
Bonhams
Aug. 26, 2008
Joseph Severn , 1793-1879 the abdication of mary queen of scots oil on canvas
Est: £80,000 - £120,000
signed l.r.: SEVERN. oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Nov. 15, 2006
JOSEPH SEVERN BRITISH, 1793-1879
Est: £6,000 - £8,000
ODALISQUE ODALISQUE 61 by 50cm., 24 by 19 3/4 in. (oval) signed and dated Joseph Severn 1852 l.c. oil on canvas
Sotheby's
Oct. 03, 2005
KEATS, JOHN (1795-1821, poet)
Est: -
PORTRAIT BY JOSEPH SEVERN (1793-1879), oil on canvas, full-length, seated between two chairs at Wentworth Place on the morning of writing the 'Ode to a Nightingale', with his left hand to the top of his head and an open book on his knee, signed and dated lower left, containing a lock of Keats's hair in a small window in the frame, 23 x 17 in (55.9 x 43.2 cm).
Bonhams
Apr. 10, 2003
JOSEPH ARTHUR PALLISER SEVERN, 1866, Watercolour: Study of breaking waves toward sunset, 24 x 36in, signed and dated
Est: £500 - £700
JOSEPH ARTHUR PALLISER SEVERN, 1866, Watercolour: Study of breaking waves toward sunset, 24 x 36in, signed and dated
Brightwells