William Albert Clark (1880 to 1963), oil of canvas of race horse "Lucky Jim", signed and dated 1925, lower left.  It is also inscribed verso to the stretcher in the artists hand pencil, "Lucky Jim" and what is presumably the owner's name, "Cap(tain) G...... Thorne", and location indistinct.  The horse blanket is embroidered with the intiials HGT.  This painting is offered unframed, and measures 16 inches by 20 inches, matching the dimensions used in other oil on canvas works by Clark.

Born in Islington on the 3rd of January 1880 to Albert Clark and Harriet Jane, William Albert Clark joined a large family of animal painters. His birth certificate actually reads "Albert William" but he presumably went by his first name to avoid confusion with his father. Like his family, he specialised almost entirely in paintings of animals, most notably horses with the occassional dog or prize cattle portrait.

In 1900 he married Annie Louisa Sutton and lived comfortably in Islington, bearing three daughters by 1911 before moving to Tottenham. From his base in London, he travelled across Britain to do paintings commissions, his business card stating, 'Gentlemen waited upon in any part of the country'. He signed paintings as 'W.A. Clark' and often details of the animal depicted would be neatly printed printed on the front of the canvas. He is not known to have exhibited his work, but he was a member of the Royal Agricultural Society until his death in 1963.

His work appears on the ArtUK website, is in collections of the National Trust and various county museums, including Warwichshire and Lincolnshire.

Sadly despite research, I've been unable to unearth anything about Lucky Jim, and have concluded that he might have been than, er, lucky for his owner.  It's a nice journeyman style slightly naive picture, by a well recognised artist.  A similar equine subject painting of "Starlight" of the same size by William Albert Clark in oil on canvas realised £750 (hammer) back in 2011 at Christie's.  Other works are currently being offered in the £2,000 to £5,000's range.   Note that my price includes shipping within the UK.

Items for sale here are from my own accumulated collections. In my store you’ll discover old art, quirky antiques, and more general interesting and functional pieces.  Among the artworks there are a few newer pictures, East Anglian and Southwold associated subjects; both celebrated and lesser artists. The antiques lean towards quirky, folk-art, and "below stairs" country house or cottage pieces – and simply unusual items that have caught my eye.  They include furniture, metalwork, treen etc. Many sea-related items will deliver a 10% donation to the RNLI. 

Dimensions stated are generally given in inches, and the prices mostly include packing and shipping within the UK mainland.  I can ship overseas - just let me know where you are and I'll get a quote.

Note: I pack and ship pictures using professional custom-made wooden (not card-board) boxes - these take me a little time to prepare dependent on demand, but I'll do my utmost to meet your delivery requirements.