Duke's to showcase a rare collection of works by John Everett

'Hardy Country' - A rare collection of aquatints by Slade artist John Everett (1876-1949)

An exceptional opportunity to buy scarce Thomas Hardy aquatint scenes of Dorset from the period
 

This selling exhibition results from a discovery made by Art Historian Gwen Yarker, formerly Curator of Fine art at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.  On finding these Everett aquatints in the bottom of a trunk in a bathroom, she recognised their significance as part of the story she has uncovered into the inspirational relationship between Thomas Hardy and modern British masters such as Augustus John, who was a close friend of John Everett.
The works were last seen together in public at the Camera Club in London in 1925 when Everett held an exhibition of these 'Hardy Country' aquatints, with Hardy's fictional names of places next to the actual place names.  He worked en plein air, rapidly sketching in oil whilst immersed in the landscape, and later worked the compositions into drawings to make the printing plates in his London studio. 

John Everett held a notable position within artistic circles of the period.  Having studied print-making in Paris, he made prints for artist friends including Augustus John and Laura Knight.  He had trained at the Slade with Augustus John and William Orpen, and was taught by Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer.  The importance of these rare Hardy-related scenes rests in the personal significance of the Dorset landscape for Everett.  Born only 3 miles apart, both Hardy and Everett understood the surrounding countryside intimately.   Everett's parents knew Thomas Hardy, who took a keen interest in their sons’ artistic progress. 
Curated by Gwen Yarker, an expert in British art of this period, whose book Inquisitive Eyes: Slade Painters in Edwardian Wessex was long listed for the prestigious William MB Berger Prize for British Art History in 2017. Gwen is writing the biography of John Everett, now best known as a maritime painter and war artist, whose oil paintings form one of the nation’s largest collections by a single artist.
Duke’s would like to sincerely thank Gwen for her excellent support to this exhibition.

Hardy Country – a rare collection of aquatints by Slade artist John Everett (1876-1949)
3 September – 21 September 2018
Exhibition open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 5.00pm
Private View: 4 September 5.00 – 7.00pm
Entry by RSVP to [email protected]

Dukes Auctioneers: 14th Aug 2018 10:40:00