Alfred Pearse (1855-1933) - Early 20th Century Watercolour Around the Fire

Description

A delightful watercolour study by well listed artist Alfred Pearse depicting riders stopping for the night on a trail. Men tie their horses up for the evening and start to gather around the campfire. Signed with a monogram to the lower right. Presented in a glazed wooden frame with a gilt slip and white card mount, On paper.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration.

Size

16.8 x 16.5cm (6.6" x 6.5")
Framed Size: 36.8 x 33.9cm (14.5" x 13.3")

Artist Biography

Alfred Pearse was a cartoonist and wood engraver born in Paddington, London the son of decorative artist Joseph Salter Pearse (1823-1896). Alfred studied at the West London School of Art and gained numerous prizes for drawing and went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Society of British Artists. He sketched the Royal Colonial Tour (1901-03) on behalf of the Sphere. A firm believer in women's suffrage Pearse designed posters campaigning for the movement. He drew a weekly cartoon for Votes for Women from 1909, and was also regularly published in the Illustrated London News, Boy's Own Paper and Punch. With Laurence Housman, he a founder member of the Suffrage Atelier. Pearse produced various artworks, cartoons and propaganda related to British efforts in World War I. His artwork appeared in journals that included Cassell’s Magazine, The London Magazine, Pearson’s Magazine, The Penny Magazine, Punch, The Royal Magazine, The Strand Magazine and The Wide World Magazine. His illustrations for children’s journals were not limited to Boy’s Own Paper and he also contributed to The Captain, The Girl’s Own Paper, The Girls’ Realm, Little Folks and Young England.

Pearse designed the Suffragette poster 'Votes for Women' in response to the Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith's suppression of the 1910 Conciliation Bill, which proposed extending the vote in Britain and Ireland to around one million wealthy, property-owning women. The design shows King George V painting the text 'We Bow to the Will of the People' onto a poster, a man wearing brown overalls and a flat-cap is painting onto the King's back, whilst a suffragette paints onto the man's back. The poster attempts to show how Asquith had gone against the will of Parliament and thus the people of the United Kingdom. It calls on male voters to register their protest by voting against Liberal candidates in the next election. Pearse adopted the nom-de-plume 'A. Patriot' for this poster a copy of which is housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The spelling of his surname should be noted as it is occasionally spelt incorrectly as 'Pearce' and his birth year is also incorrectly quoted as 1865.