Alice Mary Havers (British, 1850-1890). Tea party by the pond; Study for 'The first arrivals' (two works), 1881. Waterco... (Total: 2 Items)

Description

Alice Mary Havers (British, 1850-1890)
Tea party by the pond; Study for 'The first arrivals' (two works), 1881
Watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper laid on card
18-1/4 x 33-7/8 inches (46.4 x 86.0 cm) (card, largest)
16 x 27 inches (40.6 x 68.6) (card, smallest)
Each signed and dated lower right: A Havers. 1881

The two watercolors offered here display all the hallmarks of Alice Mary Havers' short but prosperous career. Her illustrative style brings to life the charming rural scenes so popular in her time, punctuating them with a uniquely moody subtext that rendered them inescapably her own.

Both works reflect Havers' adherence to the artistic trends of the period, a savvy business decision which enhanced her reputation and prompted the reproduction of many of her works in print form. The 18th century enjoyed a robust revival in the latter half of the 19th century, with special attention paid to the portraits of Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, and more specifically, the fashion of their sitters. The present works display this costuming throughout, pastel fabrics riddled with frills and lace, and an empire-waist gown seen in the background. This style appears throughout the work of Havers' highly regarded contemporaries, among them Walter Crane, John Everett Millais, and Kate Greenaway, as well as two artists exhibiting at the Royal Academy in 1881, Marcus Stone and George Dunlop Leslie. Havers also exhibited in 1881 alongside Stone and Leslie, showing an oil on canvas version of The first arrivals, for which the present watercolor appears to be a preparatory study.

Havers first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1873, and though she married the artist Frederick Morgan in 1872, she continued to work professionally under her maiden name. An early picture of hers was acquired by none other than Queen Victoria in 1874. Havers regularly exhibited her work across the United Kingdom and continued to study throughout her life, training under Benjamin Constant in the late 1880s. This momentum was tragically cut short by her untimely death at the age of 40 in 1890.

The completed oil version of The first arrivals (last seen on the public market at Sotheby's, London, December 9, 2008, lot 136) varies in some ways from the present watercolor. In the study, the two central children (likely her own son and daughter, Valentine and Lillian), are spared the presence of both the toddler and the young woman visible in the foreground of the final work. The toddler, notably absent from both present works, is almost certainly Havers' youngest son, Reginald, born in either 1880 or 1881, which may explain his omission from the earliest studies, and his inclusion in the Academy work completed some months later.

While oil is considered the more noble medium, watercolor grants a certain levity to the composition. The colors here are exceptionally vibrant, significantly more so than in the final work, whose background presents a considerably darker forest, almost forbiddingly so. Consistent throughout the project is the clear existence of wealth, no doubt a nod to Havers' well-to-do upbringing. Champagne, boiled lobster, and the appearance of domestic staff make it plain: these children are certainly not poor. And yet, something is vaguely amiss. The children are essentially alone, supervised by a maid or, at most, their governess. The parents are either busily frolicking with the other adults in the background or completely absent, as in Tea party by the pond. Even though the children appear to enjoy each other's company, the viewer sees that they have been plopped down to entertain themselves, allowing the adults to stroll leisurely to the picnic area without interruption.

Havers' own youth, marked by several trans-Atlantic moves and the loss of both parents before the age of twenty, seemingly set the tone for the rest of her life, its shadow lurking in her mature work. The delicate, tender rendering of her usually rural subjects veils a faintly melancholy atmosphere. This sense was undoubtedly bolstered by her unhappy marriage to Frederick Morgan who, by many accounts, turned out to be an abusive philanderer. Their eventual divorce proceedings were lengthy and finalized mere weeks before Havers' death.

Tragedy aside, that seam of unhappiness running quietly through Havers' world is what provides such nuance to her art, and it should not come as a surprise that much of her critical acclaim was supplied by women, who were quickest to recognize it as they examined her work as fellow artists, critics, and collectors. She was praised by the Society of Lady Artists in 1885 for her treatment of "the domestic sorrows of humble life with touching tenderness of sentiment." Several of her Royal Academy oils are especially emblematic of this, particularly Trouble (The sick child), End of her journey, and Blanchisseuses: "What, no soap?". The concept of "domestic sorrow" has historically received precious little attention in art, shunted aside in favor of the more obviously dramatic historical and mythological subjects traditionally held in higher esteem. But as the longtime exclusion of women from the arts has ebbed, so too has the dearth of art examining the domestic world made by those whose lives were linked to it most intimately. As women continue to reclaim space in the art historical canon, Alice Mary Havers cannot be overlooked.


More information about Havers, Alice. See also: Morgan, Mrs. Frederick, Havers, Alice Morgan, Havers, Alice Mary, Alice Havers Artist.

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