Victor Noble Rainbird (1887-1936) - Watercolour The River at Dawn

Description

A charming watercolour study by listed artist Victor Noble Rainbird. The scene depicts a woman fetching water from a river with the red sky of dawn rising from the horizon. Signed to the lower left. Presented in a gilt frame and washline mount. On paper.

Condition

The condition is typical for a picture of this age including some discolouration. There is wear to the frame.

Size

27 x 37cm (10.6" x 14.6")
Framed Size: 45 x 55cm (17.7" x 21.7")

Artist Biography

Victor Noble Rainbird was a painter, stained glass designer and illustrator, born in North Shields the son of a Customs Officer. He was noted for his geographically specific street scenes and coastal views. He studied at evening classes with Ralph Walter Liddell at Armstrong College, Newcastle upon Tyne and also under R. G. Hatton at the RA Schools in London where he twice won Silver Medals as well as the Landseer Scholarship. His works were included in a government exhibition which toured Australia, New Zealand and Canada. He made several trips to France, Belgium and the Netherlands and a large quantity of his work depicts continental topographical subjects. Common works include Dutch fishermen and street scenes, the seafront at and around North Shields, and impressions of Rouen and Amiens.

Although a prolific painter, little is really known of his life and he is also thought to have signed his work using the name Percival Fenimore. He rarely exhibited but is recorded as having shown in the Artists of the Northern Counties exhibitions at the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, the RA and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool on a few occasions. The only known surviving example of stained glass work by Rainbird can be found in Papa Kirk, on the island of Papa Stour in Shetland. It was commissioned to commemorate six local men who died in World War I and was fitted in 1921. The window depicts Jesus calming a storm. Rainbird died in Sunderland.