Live Auction 21954British and European Art
ARTHUR HUGHES (BRITISH, 1830-1915)
Lot 26

ARTHUR HUGHES (BRITISH, 1830-1915)

Head study of a girl, drawn for Charles Rowley

Closed13 July 2023

Price Realised

GBP 11,340

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ARTHUR HUGHES (BRITISH, 1830-1915)
Head study of a girl, drawn for Charles Rowley
signed, inscribed and dated 'Chas Rowley from Arthur Hughes/ xmas 1903' (lower right)
sanguine chalk on paper
12 ¼ x 9 3/8 in. (31 x 23.7 cm.)

Charles Rowley.
Anonymous sale; Phillips, London, 18 July 1988, lot 16 (£700 to Nahum).
with Peter Nahum, London, where purchased by the present owner, January 1989.

Specialist note

Charles Rowley (1839-1933) was a Manchester picture framer, socialist and city councillor, and a great friend of Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893), who drew a portrait of him now in Manchester Art Gallery (1936.116). Rowley greatly admired the socialist ideas of William Morris, and became acquainted with the wider Pre-Raphaelite circle, conducting a lively correspondence with Walter Crane, among others. The delicate, ephemeral use of sanguine chalk here is typical of Hughes' drawing technique. He often gave drawings to friends, and it is possible that the sitter is related to Rowley.