Lot 404: STUART HOBKIRK FL. FROM 1897

signed and dated l.l.: STUART HOBKIRK/ 97

oil on canvas

52 by 61 cm., 20 3/4 by 24 in.

London, Royal Academy, 1897, no. 820

Elegance and sophistication are the hallmarks of the best work of Stuart Hobkirk, an interesting member of the Cornish colony of St. Ives. Although he painted scenes of fisher folk in the west of England like 'Fishing Luggers Returning Home', he also appears to have spent much time in Paris where he painted glamorous scenes of fashionably attired young ladies in parks and gardens. In the Shade is one such painting in which a young flaneuse has momentarily paused in her promenade in one of the Parisian parks. The surroundings and mood of casual glamour is reminiscent of the belle epoque painters of fin de siecle Paris, like Victor Gilbert and Jean Béraud. A similar picture of a young lady choosing flowers from a market stall is entitled In the Paris Flower Markets and is dated 1899 (Sotheby's, 19 July 1989, lot. 39)