FS CHURCH NA Painting 1889 GOLDEN AGE Illustration NY Artist FANTASY Art MERMAID

$4,850.00 Buy It Now or Best Offer, Click to see shipping cost, 14-Day Returns, eBay Money Back Guarantee
Seller: cadmium24 ✉️ (1,537) 100%, Location: Pitman, New Jersey, US, Ships to: US, Item: 325385235996 FS CHURCH NA Painting 1889 GOLDEN AGE Illustration NY Artist FANTASY Art MERMAID.

1889 en grisaille mixed media (w/ black watercolor and/or black ink wash, ink, graphite, and white gouache or watercolor) on paper laid on paperboard titled “The Mermaid and the Sea Wolf” by Frederick Stuart Church, NA (Am., 1842-1923). Provenance: The expert on American Illustration Art, William H. Patten (Am., 1865-1936).

W.H. Patten was Art Editor for Harper’s Magazine and creator of ‘The Cabinet Of American Illustration’, the Library of Congress’ collection of over 4,000 original drawings from the Golden Age of American Illustration (1880’s-1920’s). It wasn’t Patten’s collection, rather donations he arranged for as he knew the artists’ families.

The title, inscription, signature and date are in Church’s hand, handwritten by him in ink. Artwork Image size: 9 1/8 x 16 1/4”. Paper sheet size: 11 1/4 x 18 1/8”. Paperboard mount size: 14 3/4 x 22 1/2”. Unframed, unrestored, unmatted. This 1889 mixed media by F.S. Church is based on his (now lost) 1883 version of the same composition, which was at the time in the William T. Evans Collection. I can’t precisely compare this to the Evans version as there’s no picture of it online to look at. However…

In 1885, Frank Scott King created a wood engraving after the 1883 painting, so we can see that online. It was published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 70, Issue 417, fronticepiece (page 338), February, 1885, and bore the (bold, large) signature “F.S. Church NY 83” lower left just like the 1883 painting did. The page / magazine size was approx. 6.5 x 10”, a lot smaller than the 1889 version by Church offered here.

F.S. Church was known to do other versions of his artworks. His “Desolation” (1886), depicting Polar Bears, was done originally as a watercolor. He made several versions of it including one in graphite, and another in oil in 1887 which was inscribed very similarly to this, and sold at Heritage Auction. In the work offered here, Church’s technique looks to be that he used paper that he'd colored black, brought out the forms using white paint, did a wiping or brushing out technique to give the impression of motion, then finished with a sort of thin white glaze over everything to mellow down the black, incorporate the tones and show atmosphere. Then, he signed and inscribed it.

This image by Church is his timeless masterpiece of the genre. He sure did like the subject and revisited it two other times I know of in 1889. It’s only this composition, though, that doesn’t feel outdated at all and is hands down the coolest F.S. Church I've ever seen. It's so 'now' that it might as well have been done in the 2010’s-20’s as storyboard art for the billion dollar DC movie Aquaman (2018) or it’s sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2022).

The 1883 version of “The Mermaid and the Sea Wolf” was in the W.T. Evans Collection until the year 1900. Evans’ 270 paintings by American artists went to an auction house, American Art Galleries / American Art Association, at 6 East 23rd St., NYC. That Church painting and the other Evans pieces were there from January 24, 1900, until they were moved to Chickering Hall. From January 30 through February 2, 1900, the Evans Collection was auctioned off. Lot 164 was “The Mermaid and the Sea Wolf” (14 x 25 inches). It sold for 410 USD (around $13K in today’s money) to one Baroness d’Alexandre d’Oreangiani. Thomas E. Kirby was the auctioneer.

The “Baroness” was actually Margaret ‘Daisy’ Alexandria Singer-Mat(t)hews Alexander (Am., 1858-1939) / Mrs. Granville Alexander, the wife of Granville Henry Jackson Alexander, Esq., aka Alexander of Fork(h)ill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, and daughter of famous sewing machine businessman Isaac Singer and M. Mat(t)hews (alias of Mary McGonigal of 70 Christopher Street, NYC). Daisy Singer Alexander had a fascination with the sea. She was childless and famously left her 12 million dollar will as a message in a bottle that surfaced on a beach in America after her death in London.

Daisy’s F.S. Church painting from the Evans Collection is lost today. If it still exists and it were found, it would likely be placed in a museum as collector John Gellatly did with his F.S. Church painting, “Mermaid” (1889), in the North Carolina Museum of Art. Daisy’s great niece, Mrs. G.T. Morton, donated Daisy’s 1881 silk and satin evening dress to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

CHECK MY FEEDBACK AND BUY WITH CONFIDENCE! *** 20+ years of happy customers on eBay *** Please see my other eBay listings for more great items. Message me to arrange for combined shipping on multiple purchases.
  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: Unrestored mixed media painting w/ discoloration, foxing, etc. Painting on paper laid on (glued to) paperboard. Uneven / out of square. Remnants of back of old matting (matting now gone) stuck to front but not on the image area. Needs matting, glass, frame, etc.
  • Artist: Frederick Stuart Church, NA
  • Unit of Sale: Single-Piece Work
  • Signed By: Frederick S. Church
  • Size: Medium (up to 36in.)
  • Date of Creation: 1800-1899
  • Overall approximate size of board: 14 3/4 x 22 1/2"
  • Region of Origin: New York, USA
  • Framing: Unframed
  • Personalize: No
  • Year of Production: 1889
  • Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
  • Width (Inches): 16 1/4
  • Style: Fantasy, Figurative Art, Illustration Art, Realism
  • Painting Surface: Paper
  • Features: One of a Kind (OOAK), Personalized, Signed
  • Culture: Seafaring
  • Handmade: Yes
  • Time Period Produced: 1850-1899
  • Signed: Yes
  • Color: Multi-Color
  • Michigan / New York Artist: National Academician
  • Material: Cardboard, Paper, Watercolor
  • Subject: Animals, Equestrian, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Figures, Fish & Water Animals, Inspirational, Mythology, Nautical, Seafaring, Seascape
  • Type: Painting
  • Height (Inches): 9 1/8
  • Production Technique: Watercolor Painting
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States

PicClick Insights - FS CHURCH NA Painting 1889 GOLDEN AGE Illustration NY Artist FANTASY Art MERMAID PicClick Exclusive

  •  Popularity - 4 watchers, 0.0 new watchers per day, 530 days for sale on eBay. Very high amount watching. 0 sold, 1 available.
  •  Best Price -
  •  Seller - 1,537+ items sold. 0% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.

People Also Loved PicClick Exclusive