Sheila Fell R.A.

(British, 1931-1979)

Mechi Farm, Cumberland II 71.2 x 91.4 cm. (28 x 36 in.) Painted in 1973

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired from the 1973 exhibition by the father of the present owners
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
London, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer Exhibition, 1973, cat.no.860

Following the purchase of the present work from the Royal Academy in May of 1973, Fell added the figure seen in the gateway at the request of the owner by December the same year.

Mechi Farm is located in open countryside adjacent to the village of Blennerhasset, some three miles from Fell's birth-town of Aspatria in West Cumbria. The farm is well known locally and is of national historical interest: it was developed as an experimental (model) farmstead between 1863 and 1865 by William Lawson (1836-1916). Lawson had visited the experimental farm run by Alderman Mechi in Essex, and was inspired to establish a similar farm on returning to Cumbria. Named Mechi Farm, after Alderman Mechi, Lawson built the farm on a scale that was without precedent in Cumberland — its scope went far beyond that of a traditional livestock and agricultural farm of the time.

Unfortunately, Lawson's experimental farm did not enjoy long-term success and after ten years he ended his time as a gentleman farmer. The Blennerhasset Estate was sold, bringing to a close Mechi Farm's decade as an experimental model farm, after which it continued as a traditional family-owned farm. A detailed account of William Lawson's experimental farm is recorded in Ten Years of Gentleman Farming at Blennerhasset (London, Longman, Green, and Co, 1874).

Sheila Fell was clearly inspired by the subject of Mechi Farm as she painted it from the same viewpoint on several occasions during the 1970s. She exhibited two paintings depicting Mechi Farm at the 1973 Royal Academy Summer exhibition: Mechi Farm, Cumberland and Mechi Farm, Cumberland, II. The paintings are dominated by the perimeter wall and various farm buildings, and the artist has picked out the irregularly shaped stones (red sandstone and other stones) of different sizes and colours that were used to construct the wall and farm buildings, as well as the large red sandstone blocks at the corners of the building and surrounding its various openings.

The varied colours and shapes of the stone contrast with the uniform grey of the Welsh slate with which the buildings are roofed. Now demolished, the double-span building that dominates Mechi Farm, Cumberland II housed the gas works, where coal furnaces provided gas for both the farm and the adjacent villages of Blennerhasset and Baggrow. In 1871, a gas leak led to a major fire that damaged parts of the farm, but fortunately no one was seriously injured.

Commenting on these paintings, and three other works by Fell in Gallery VII of the Royal Academy, Terence Mullaly, the art critic for The Daily Telegraph and a great admirer of Fell's work commented: "Here is bold strong painting, with lyrical undertones, while at the same time, Fell is lightening her palette." (The Daily Telegraph, 4th May, 1973).

We are grateful to Professor Andrew Bradley for his assistance in cataloguing this lot. Professor Bradley is currently preparing the forthcoming catalogue raisonne of the Artist's work and would like to hear from owners of any work by the Artist so that these can be included in this comprehensive catalogue. Please write to Professor Andrew Bradley, C/O Modern British and Irish Art, Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1SR or email [email protected]