P.O.A.
MEDIUM: Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS: (unframed) 36 x 60 inches (91.4 x 152.4 cm)
SIGNATURE: Signed and dated (lower right)
In ‘The Silent Restfulness of Eve’ Leader depicts a quiet, tranquil moment as the sunlight fades at dusk. A church rests to the right of the centre, and looks out onto a lush green landscape of what appears to be marshland. A small hamlet is visible, over which the artist has delicately incorporated a flock of birds.
This is an excellent example of the atmospheric scenes that Leader painted with
increasing popularity from around the late 1880s. Leader paid great attention to detail in his work, and had an incredible ability to portray light against water.
In ‘The Silent Restfulness of Eve’ Leader depicts a quiet, tranquil moment as the sunlight fades at dusk. A church rests to the right of the centre, and looks out onto a lush green landscape of what appears to be marshland. A small hamlet is visible, over which the artist has delicately incorporated a flock of birds.
Agnew’s Gallery
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Born as Benjamin Williams, he added the surname Leader, his father’s middle name, to distinguish himself from the Williams family. Upon abandoning a profession in engineering for art, he became a pupil at the Royal Academy in 1853. The following year he showed his first picture there, and continued to exhibit prolifically up until his death in 1923. His paintings were bought by King George V and William Gladstone amongst others and he became one of the most popular and expensive artists of his day.
Leader was extremely popular in Victorian times and his work sold for high prices. Today he is recognized as one of the most accomplished Victorian landscape artists of his day. He usually chose scenes from the Midlands and the Thames valley, although he was also partial to Welsh landscapes, especially around Bettws-y-Coed.
His earlier work reflects his admiration of the Pre-Raphaelites, however, he later developed a broader, more naturalistic style. A realistic feeling of space and a lightness of atmosphere are characteristic of his work. James Dafforne, the contemporary art critic of the Art Journal, praised his work in glowing terms in 1871: ‘his style is a happy medium between excess of detail and over elaboration on the one hand, and a dash of execution on the other…we regard Mr. Leader as one of our best landscape painters.’
