Lot 67: Winter Guests

Stephen Baghot de la Bere, R.I. (1877-1927) Winter Guests signed and dated 'S/BAGHOT/DE LA BERE/1914' (lower left) and signed and inscribed 'Stephen Baghot - de la Bere/35 Maclise Road/Kensington W/T**le '* Winter Guests.'/*henas he bound him to prayer, the weather/being starke, certain of the forest creatures ***/**me in seeking meate and pyze.'/Legend of St Wilbald' (on the damaged artist's label on the stretcher) oil on canvas, unframed 53 1/4 x 43 1/4 in. (135.3 x 109.9 cm.)

135.3 x 109.9 cm.

London, Royal Academy, 1915, No. 745.

The El Helou Collection; Christie's, London, 19 May 1999, lot 494.

Stephen Baghot de la Bere was a British cartoonist and illustrator. Most of his work was produced in the early 20th century when his cartoons and illustrations were featured in a number of periodicals, including The Sketch, and various publications, including Gulliver’s Travels. His work was highlighted when included by the British Council in the Venice Biennale in 1912. After the First World War Baghot became a member of ‘The London Sketch Club’, and working alongside Edmund Dulac, Cecil Aldin and John Hassall, he became well-known for his humoristic illustrations. A group picture of the Club is on view in the National Portrait Gallery, London, dated 1921. In ‘Winter Guests’ Baghot departs from his humoristic tendencies and poster-like style to depict a mysterious and sinister scene of a monk, St Wilbald, interrupted during his prayers by wild creatures. Baghot’s use of a mythological satyr and other animals invokes a potential symbolic meaning to the picture as satyrs can personify evil or lust. The one text that details the life of St Wilbald (700-787 A.D.) was written in the 8th century by Huneberc, an Anglo-Saxon nun from Heidenheim am Hahnenkamm, and was entitled The Hodoeporicon of St. Willibald. It does not contain any reference to the scene that is being depicted in ‘Winter Guests’. The story of Wilbald’s life in The Hodoeporican is said to have been recounted by Wilband to Huneberc on his deathbed. St Wilbald, of the Bendictine Order, obtained notoriety for his ambitious travels across Europe and Asia, and his alternative missionary style – he did not seek to openly convert, but to learn and personally develop through his wanderings of new lands. Additionally, St Wilbald is often thought to be the first English man to have visited the Holy Land.