Lot 110: Maria Tuke Sainsbury (British, 1861-1947) A storm

A storm
Initialed 'MTS' (lower right); inscribed 'a storm - for Nov. 91' on reverse
watercolour
13 x 17.5cm (5 1/8 x 6 7/8in).
WITH Pencil sketch of Harrington Sainsbury; Pencil sketch of Maria Tuke Sainsbury by Henry Scott Tuke; other watercolour (4)

PROVENANCE:

Born in Falmouth, Maria was the sister of the artist Henry Scott Tuke. While her brother studied at the Slade her family moved to London, but she was not allowed the same privileges as he, despite an innate talent for art. She befriended a number of her brother's friends, including Thomas Cooper Gotch, and despite no formal training painted landscape and portrait subjects, mainly in watercolour.

She married Dr Harrington Sainsbury in 1899, with whom she had four children. She continued to paint after her marriage, signing her work MTS. Her shipping watercolours are similar to those of her brother, and she was with him at his cottage overlooking Swanpool in Falmouth when he died. She wrote a book about her brother Henry Scott Tuke, RA, RWS: A Memoir (1933).