Lot 117: James Campbell (1828-1903)

The dead robin
formerly signed and inscribed 'The dead Robin James Campbell Liverpool' (on the reverse of the board)
oil on board transferred to canvas
11 7/8 x 15 7/8 in. (30.2 x 40.3 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's Belgravia, 15 December 1981, lot 212.

Like W.L. Windus, William Davis, David Alexander Williamson, and others, Campbell belonged to the group of Liverpudlian painters who formed a distinct and early offshoot of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Campbell's adoption of Pre-Raphaelitism was partly inspired by the pictures which Ford Madox Brown, Holman Hunt and Millais showed at the Liverpool Academy in the 1850s, and partly by first hand acquaintance with the Pre-Raphaelite circle in London. In 1857 he contributed to their exhibition in Russell Place, and he belonged to the Hogarth Club which they established in April 1858 as a meeting place and exhibition venue. An early patron was James Leathart, who also was a patron of Arthur Hughes (see following lots).

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