A Singing Lesson
50.8 cms x 45.7 cms (20 ins x 18 ins)
Signed and dated 1900 lower left. Signed, titled and inscribed with the artist’s address on the reverse
made in 1900
Lot offered for sale by Cowley Abbott, Toronto at the auction event "Fall Live Auction of Important Canadian Art" held on Thu, Dec 1, 2022.
Lot 41880
Lot 41880
Estimate: CAD $4,000 - $6,000
Realised: CAD $9,000
Realised: CAD $9,000
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Frances L. (Mrs. John) Firstbrook, Toronto (born 1869)
By descent to Mary I. Firstbrook (Mrs. William Robinson)
By descent to Frances C. Robinson (Mrs. Roberts)
By descent to Private Collection, Toronto
Joyner Waddington’s, auction, Toronto, 25 November 2008, lot 97
Private Collection
Exhibitions:
"Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy", National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 15 February 1900, no. 18
"Annual Spring Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Watercolours, Sculpture, & C., Art Association of Montreal, 16 March 1900, no. 16
"Annual Exhibition", Rochester Art Club, 17-29 November 1902, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, no. 24
Literature:
"Ottawa Citizen", 16 February 1900, which writes that "Mr. Frederick S. Challener’s A Singing Lesson, showing a young lady, clad in a yellow gown, standing before a piano, expresses, gracefully, an abundance of sentiment."
"Ottawa Evening Journal", 17 February 1900, writes: "It is invidious to draw comparisons, but in subject matter or composition, one is compelled to pause and pause long before that oil painting of the girl before the piano by one of Canada’s most promising and original artists – F. S. Challener…in the piano picture there is something so altogether fresh, daring and finished it would pay the art gallery jog-trotter to pull up here and stay pulled up. There is first the pose, of the girl with the finger on the keys and head thrown up and drooping gown coming back in almost moving folds and one of the elderly gentlemen whose face one sees reflected in the mirror with just enough of an old-fashioned choker to tell that the age was a century ago. Then the purplish haze predominates, running through the very gloom of the piano varnish from the vase above to the upturned hem of the girl’s gown. A novice would have left the music glare white. Not so Challener. The sheet is toned to the whole picture by means of a natural shadow and the yellow flow of the gown is relieved by a dash of red band beneath the shoulder."
Jean Grant, "Saturday Night", Toronto, 3 March 1900, writes that Challener’s "A Singing Lesson" is charming. "In the "Singing Lesson", a young girl in a flowing robe of lovely yellow, holding a sheet of music in one hand, is getting her note on a piano with the other."
"Annual Exhibition", Rochester Art Club, 17-29 November 1902, no. 24, reproduced
J.W. Beatty, ‘A Canadian Painter and His Work’, "Canadian Magazine", v. 26, April 1906, pages 546-551, reproduced. Beatty writes of "A Singing Lesson", that in this painting, the artist is "much happier" than in his diploma picture for the R.C.A., "Workers of the Fields". He calls the picture "much more satisfying" and adds that "the colour scheme, a fine harmony in yellow, grey and brown, in a rather low key, and the unity of the composition stamp it as one of the artist’s best efforts."
Muriel Miller, ‘Famous Canadian Artists: F.S. Challener’, "Onward", Toronto, 30 October 1938, page 383, "A Singing Lesson" is listed as one of Challener’s "Magna Opera"
Muriel Miller, "Famous Canadian Artists", Peterborough, 1984, page 64, "A Singing Lesson" is listed as one of Challener’s "Magna Opera"
Philip Dombowski, "Walter S. Allward: Life & Work" [online publication], Art Canada Institute, 2021, reproduced page 7
Frederick Challener, Wikipedia [online publication], reproduced
Notes:
Frederick Challener was born 1869 in Whetstone, England. After moving to Canada, Challener found a position in a Toronto stockbroker’s office. His mind was not focused on Stocks and Bonds, however, and he often sketched the crowds outside his office window. He spent his lunch hours in front of a nearby photography studio where Canadian artists regularly exhibited. On seeing his sketches, the owners of the studio sponsored him for enrolment in evening classes at the Ontario School of Art. Within months, teachers advised Challener that he was ready to work as an artist professionally. He got a job as an apprentice to a Toronto lithography company. Artist G.A. Reid, recognizing his talent, agreed to give him free instruction in the evenings.
Frances L. (Mrs. John) Firstbrook, Toronto (born 1869)
By descent to Mary I. Firstbrook (Mrs. William Robinson)
By descent to Frances C. Robinson (Mrs. Roberts)
By descent to Private Collection, Toronto
Joyner Waddington’s, auction, Toronto, 25 November 2008, lot 97
Private Collection
Exhibitions:
"Twenty-First Annual Exhibition of the Royal Canadian Academy", National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 15 February 1900, no. 18
"Annual Spring Exhibition of Oil Paintings, Watercolours, Sculpture, & C., Art Association of Montreal, 16 March 1900, no. 16
"Annual Exhibition", Rochester Art Club, 17-29 November 1902, Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, no. 24
Literature:
"Ottawa Citizen", 16 February 1900, which writes that "Mr. Frederick S. Challener’s A Singing Lesson, showing a young lady, clad in a yellow gown, standing before a piano, expresses, gracefully, an abundance of sentiment."
"Ottawa Evening Journal", 17 February 1900, writes: "It is invidious to draw comparisons, but in subject matter or composition, one is compelled to pause and pause long before that oil painting of the girl before the piano by one of Canada’s most promising and original artists – F. S. Challener…in the piano picture there is something so altogether fresh, daring and finished it would pay the art gallery jog-trotter to pull up here and stay pulled up. There is first the pose, of the girl with the finger on the keys and head thrown up and drooping gown coming back in almost moving folds and one of the elderly gentlemen whose face one sees reflected in the mirror with just enough of an old-fashioned choker to tell that the age was a century ago. Then the purplish haze predominates, running through the very gloom of the piano varnish from the vase above to the upturned hem of the girl’s gown. A novice would have left the music glare white. Not so Challener. The sheet is toned to the whole picture by means of a natural shadow and the yellow flow of the gown is relieved by a dash of red band beneath the shoulder."
Jean Grant, "Saturday Night", Toronto, 3 March 1900, writes that Challener’s "A Singing Lesson" is charming. "In the "Singing Lesson", a young girl in a flowing robe of lovely yellow, holding a sheet of music in one hand, is getting her note on a piano with the other."
"Annual Exhibition", Rochester Art Club, 17-29 November 1902, no. 24, reproduced
J.W. Beatty, ‘A Canadian Painter and His Work’, "Canadian Magazine", v. 26, April 1906, pages 546-551, reproduced. Beatty writes of "A Singing Lesson", that in this painting, the artist is "much happier" than in his diploma picture for the R.C.A., "Workers of the Fields". He calls the picture "much more satisfying" and adds that "the colour scheme, a fine harmony in yellow, grey and brown, in a rather low key, and the unity of the composition stamp it as one of the artist’s best efforts."
Muriel Miller, ‘Famous Canadian Artists: F.S. Challener’, "Onward", Toronto, 30 October 1938, page 383, "A Singing Lesson" is listed as one of Challener’s "Magna Opera"
Muriel Miller, "Famous Canadian Artists", Peterborough, 1984, page 64, "A Singing Lesson" is listed as one of Challener’s "Magna Opera"
Philip Dombowski, "Walter S. Allward: Life & Work" [online publication], Art Canada Institute, 2021, reproduced page 7
Frederick Challener, Wikipedia [online publication], reproduced
Notes:
Frederick Challener was born 1869 in Whetstone, England. After moving to Canada, Challener found a position in a Toronto stockbroker’s office. His mind was not focused on Stocks and Bonds, however, and he often sketched the crowds outside his office window. He spent his lunch hours in front of a nearby photography studio where Canadian artists regularly exhibited. On seeing his sketches, the owners of the studio sponsored him for enrolment in evening classes at the Ontario School of Art. Within months, teachers advised Challener that he was ready to work as an artist professionally. He got a job as an apprentice to a Toronto lithography company. Artist G.A. Reid, recognizing his talent, agreed to give him free instruction in the evenings.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Cowley Abbott auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Cowley Abbott auction house for permission to use.