SIR CHARLES THOMAS WHEELER
KCVO PRA PRBS
(1892-1974)
Really striking oil of sheep in a Sussex landscape.
A rare opportunity to acquire very affordable works by a hugely important figure in the art establishment. As not only the work of a Royal Academician (RA, as if that isn't special enough), but by an artist who was the knighted PRESIDENT of the Royal Academy!
Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler KCVO PRA PRBS.
Known predominantly for his sculpture, but he painted and exhibited striking stylised landscapes as well. And some portraits too.
Wonderful typically stylised landscape oil on hardboard measuring 20 x 24 inches (about 50.8 x 61 cm)
Monogrammed and dated '74 to lower right
This a wonderfully characterful work, still so very typical of him, and so extraordinary that it was painted in the year he died, 1974, when he was 82 years old!
This oil actually has pencil lines drawn across it, indicating that Charles Wheeler was at least thinking about cutting the work down for framing. I don't think I would cut it down, because I think it's wonderfully striking in the size it is and 20 x 24 is a very nice size. But I have left the lines there to show (a soft rubber would take them away), and the 3rd photo illustrates that reduced size. So have a look for yourself.
Condition is excellent!
Just to be clear, though, because of the similarity of name, the oils I have by Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler PRA are nothing to do with the the Australian artist, Charles Arthur Wheeler (1880-1977)
THE ARTIST
Charles Wheeler was born the son of a freelance journalist in Codshall, Staffordshire, on 14 March 1892. He was raised in nearby Wolverhampton and first studied art at the Wolverhampton College of Art, from 1908 to 1915, where he was inspired in his enthusiasm for sculpture by his teacher there, Robert Emerson. In 1912, he won a national exhibition to the Royal College of Art, London, becoming one of the last students of Edward Lantéri. He is quoted as being a sculptor following in the classical tradition, who could produce works of great sensitivity and dignity. And there were many official purchases for the nation, including figures for the Bank of England in 1932; a decorative motif for South Africa House; and the Jellicoe Memorial and Fountains in Trafalgar Square.
He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1914.and exhibited there regularly all the way through to 1970, but during the 1st World War, after being being deemed unfit to fight, he served on the home front modelling and producing prostheses for amputees instead. Winning prizes for medal designs in 1917 and 1918 then enabled him to buy his studio at 2 Justice Walk, Chelsea. In 1918, as well, he married Muriel Bourne, a painter and sculptor in her own right, who he'd met at Wolverhampton School of Art. Together they would have a son, Robin and a daughter, (the painter) Carol Wheeler.
At the end of the First World War, Wheeler began a long collaboration with the architect, Herbert Baker, providing sculptures for his buildings, and usually carving them in situ. Notable among these projects was his sculptural ensemble for the Bank of England (1928-37).
Honours came quickly, as Wheeler was elected an associate (1926) and then a fellow (1935) of the Royal Society of British Sculptors (RBS). His election as an Associate of the Royal Academy came in 1934, although initially opposed by Sir William Llewellyn (its then President), on the grounds that his work was too revolutionary. Yet, the fact that he was elected a full academician only a few years later in 1940 confirmed his reputation and eminence.
In the post-war period, Wheeler became central to the artistic establishment as President of both the RBS (1944-49) and the RA (1956-66). As President of the RA, he generally took a progressive stance, and encouraged the inclusion of abstract works in the Summer Exhibitions (though, in 1959, he ordered John Hoyland’s diploma show of abstracts to be removed). At various times, he was also a member of the Royal Society of Water-Colour Painters, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water-Colour Painters and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. He was also a trustee of the Tate Gallery (1942-49) and a member of the Royal Fine Arts Commission (1946-52).
He moved to Sussex in 1968, but still painted. With the work I have dating between 1962 and 1974.
His autobiography "High Relief" was was published in 1968. And he died on the 22nd August 1974 at the age of 82. He is buried in Codsall.
The dedicated pages on the very useful ARTUK website, that has so valuably recorded all the oil paintings in pubic collections in the UK, is always worth a look. Recorded there are mostly sculptures, but there are a few paintings. And those are very much in the same vein as the ones I have.
Hope you like, but please come and chat if you have any queries and please note that UK postage is complementary and included in the "buy it now".