Sir James Jebusa Shannon, RA, RBA, RHA

(British, 1862-1923)

Madge

Footnotes

Provenance
F. H. Woodroffe.
Christie, Manson, and Woods, 28 June 1907, The Choice Collection of Pictures and Watercolour Drawings of F. H. Woodroffe, Esq., Lot 50 (sold for 130 gns).
William Permain (acquired from the above sale).
Mrs. J. M. Hanbury, Hylands House, Chelmsford.
Christie, Manson, and Woods, 20 November 1964, Lot. 50.
With The Fine Art Society Ltd., London.
The collection of George and Sonia Segal, USA.

Exhibited
London, Institute of Painters in Oil Colours, 1885/86, no. 136.
London, New English Art Club, 1886, no. 50.

Despite the relatively small scale of this simple, yet arresting image, Madge garnered a modicum of critical note when it was shown at two London venues – the Institute of Painters in Oil Colours and the New English Art Club. Although works by the young American-born James Jebusa Shannon had been sporadically exhibited since his 1881 debut at the Royal Academy when he was still a student at the South Kensington School (now the Royal College of Art), 1886 may be considered the breakthrough year in his bid for professional recognition. Indeed, Shannon's paintings could be seen at each major exhibition venue in London throughout that season.

Madge stands in contrast to the formal, commissioned portraiture that Shannon usually sent to the Royal Academy and the Grosvenor Gallery. Instead, this and another works of its type (for instance, Estelle, 1886, sold Bonhams, London, 13 July, 2011, Lot 175) were intended to showcase different aspects of Shannon's painterly talent. Here the artist depicts the head and shoulders of a distinct individual whose name provides the painting's title; yet the identity of the sitter is of no matter.

Madge confirms Shannon's desire to align his art with what was sometimes called the 'Anglo-French' style, a progressive mode associated with painting techniques inspired by the 'square' brushstrokes of the innovative French artist Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). The bust-length profile of the young woman is set against a pale, scumbled ground, the rough surface of which is inscribed with the title, artist's name, and date, written in the block-letter manner characteristic of Bastien-Lepage and his followers. The figure's costume reveals Shannon's ambition to demonstrate his facility in defining form using a limited palette of blacks, a practice often employed by fin-de-siècle painters who emulated the art of the Spanish master Velázquez in that respect. The textured, irregular contour of the figure is relieved by the smoothly rendered face in which the warm reds of her cheeks and lips offer the only spots of bright colour. The sitter's olive skin and the prominent fringe of dark hair that signals her adoption of a less carefully coiffed version of the style that had recently come into vogue lend a somewhat exotic impression to the image. In all, the painting possesses an unusual degree of sensuality and conveys a vague hint of the Bohemian lifestyle that Shannon enjoyed at this early stage of his career.

In view of the date inscribed on the painting, it is curious that the first critical notice for Madge appeared in December 1885, when a reviewer of the recently opened exhibition of the Institute of Painters in Oil Colours remarked that among the works not to be missed was 'the little head called 'Madge' (136) by Mr. J. J. Shannon, a young artist of ability, who is likely to do very good work in days to come.'¹ (This discrepancy points to the possibility that the date was a slightly later addition.) A second critic mentioned the 'clever study of a girl's head, 'Madge' (136), by Mr. J. J. Shannon, whose name is new to me.'² Just a few months later, the painting again earned mention when it was included in the inaugural exhibition of the New English Art Club, with one writer stating that 'Mr. J. J. Shannon's 'Madge' merits a word of praise.'³

Madge was presumably purchased by F. H. Woodroffe directly from the artist and the painting received no further mention until the estate sale of a portion of Woodroffe's collection in 1907 from which it was bought for 130 guineas by the London art dealer William Permain.⁴ The painting was later owned by Mrs. John (Christine) Hanbury, a director of Truman, Hanbury, and Buxton brewers, and sold by her executors in 1964.<sup>5

1</sup>'Institute of Painters in Oil Colours', Times, 2 December, 1885. p. 8.
²'The Royal Institute', Truth, 24 December, 1885, p. 19.
³'Picture Shows', Truth, 15 April, 1886. p. 19.
⁴See Christie, Manson, and Woods advertisement for the June 28, 1907, sale of 'The Choice Collection of Pictures and Watercolour Drawings of F. H. Woodroffe, Esq., deceased, late of 4 Down-street, Piccadilly. W.' (sold by order of the Executors), Morning Post, 24 June 1907, p. 14; also The Scotsman, 29 June, 1907, p. 10.
⁵Typed notation on photograph record for Madge, Witt Photograph Library, Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

We are grateful to Professor Barbara Dayer Gallati for compiling this catalogue entry.