Pastoral Scene
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Research by Marjorie Gregson
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Acc No 195
Artist Frank William Longshaw previously attributed to Com Van Lamputtier Artist dates 1864-1914 Medium oil on canvas Size unknown Date painted 1910 Inscr: (L.R.) F.L. R.C.A. 191? Donor Helen Margaret Dent 50 Newbury Road, Lytham St Annes Date donated: 28 February 1949 |
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ARTIST
No evidence has been uncovered of an artist named Com Van Lamputtier. However, there is an artist of note called Cornelius Van Leemputten. 
The above is one of his signatures although he also signed himself as:
Corneille Van Leemputten, C. Van Leemputten or Corn. Van Leemputten, which may account for the picture being attributed to Com Van Lamputtier. This painting in not signed by Leemputten, as in the bottom right hand corner there are initials which appear to read, F.L. R.C.A. and a date of 191? Also the picture is totally unlike the style of Leemputten, who was a genre painter of farmyard animals which were portrayed in great detail, as opposed to the sheep in this landscape. My research, if the initials are correct, leads to an artist called Frank William Longshaw (1864-1914), who was an associate of The Royal Cambrian Academy in 1893 and full academician in 1896. This was confirmed in my correspondence with the RCA. He was also Honorary Treasurer. He was born in Swinton, Lancashire to William and Jane Longshaw. By 1901 he was living in Llanros, Conwy, in Wales and was a member of the RCA. The Royal Cambrian Academy was founded in 1881 by a group of mainly English painters. As political unrest had made the Grand Tour hazardous for travellers, North Wales became a fashionable alternative for artists. Originally based in Llandudno, the academy later moved to Plas Mawr in Conwy. Augustus John was one of its most notable presidents. Longshaw was a landscape artist who worked mainly in watercolours in an Impressionist style. He was a great friend of one of the RCA’s founders, Anderson Hague, and they often painted together. Longshaw also exhibited at the Manchester Academy of Art showing A Welsh Cottage in 1901 and Woodland Stream in 1909. He died in 1914, in Deganwy, at the age of 50, after only three days’ illness. His death was reported in several papers, including the Manchester Evening News and the Dundee Courier, which described him as 'a well known artist'. PAINTING The picture is in need of some restoration as it appears to have browned with age. Original colouring has been lost as have the finer details. The tree on the left is now so dark it overpowers the picture. DONOR The donor was Helen Margaret Dent, who was living at 50 Newbury Road, Lytham St Annes at the time of the gift in 1949. She was born in 1889 in Fallowfield, Manchester to Matthew William Dent and Helen Ada (nee Provis). In 1901 the family, including her sister, Kathleen, were living in Manchester with two servants. Her father was a commercial traveller in drapery and the 1911 census records the family as living at 5 West Bank Avenue in Lytham. The household also included a servant. Helen was described as a teacher of elocution and her sister taught the piano. Kathleen married John Tattersall in 1918. In 1924 the Dents lived at Greenfields, Westby Street, Lytham. Helen Ada died in 1931. By 1934 Matthew was living at 50 Laverton Road. He died the following year and details of his estate appeared in the Lancashire EvenIng Post of 15 March 1935, granting probate to Helen and John Tattersall. Helen Dent died in 1979. |
REFERENCES
www.findmypast.co.uk/censuses Liverpool Daily Post, 4 March 1915 Manchester Evening News, 4 March 1914 Dundee Courier, 5 December 1914 www.artbiogs.co.uk www.rcaconwy.org www.amounderness.co.uk |
