Crossing the Sands Wet Weather by William J. C. Bond. Dated 1865 Oil on card: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches, 8.9 X 14 cm.
Signed and dated 1863; signed, inscribed and dated on the reverse "Morning in Spring WJJC Bond, Glan Helen Carnarvon, May 1863," and in addition on an exhibition label on the frame no. 2 Spring Morning W.J.J.C Bond 14 King St Liverpool.
Commentary by Hilary Morgan
In this exquisite painted sketch, Bond appears at his most Turnerian. The small format allowed him to record a fleeting effect of colour and light while still painting from nature. Bond was noted for his ability to work on a small scale. As Marillier states, 'Bond's canvases range between very wide limits of size - from tiny vignettes a few inches square, painted like the daintiest miniatures, to fairly large canvases.' In his study of the Liverpool School, Marillier does not record whether Bond visited London, but this work seems to suggest he had some acquaintance with Turner's sketchbooks, then only to be seen in the Turner Bequest at the National Gallery. It is highly likely that an artist with his admiration for Turner should make a particular effort to see them, perhaps in the late 1850s when Ruskin was occupied in cataloguing and arranging them, and welcomed visits from interested artists.
References
Morgan, Hilary, and Nahum, Peter. Burne-Jones, The Pre-Raphaelites And Their Century. London: Peter Nahum, 1989. Catalogue number 38.
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