William James Blacklock (1816 – 1858)

"Hermitage Castle", a romanticised impression of the brooding Scottish Borders stronghold warmly illuminated by the glow of the setting sun, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1855, the stretcher bearing a period label inscribed "No 2. Hermitage Castle. W J Blacklock. Cumwhitton. Carlisle", in ornate gilt frame, 32 cm x 55 cm sight size, (torn and punctured.) [One of four works Blacklock submitted to the Royal Academy exhibition in 1855, the others being ‘The Border Keep,’ ‘Elter Water, and the Langdale Pikes,' and ‘Belted Will’s Tower, Naworth Castle'. An extract from The Dictionary of National Biography reads "His works are principally views of the landscape scenery of the north of England, and their chief characteristics are picturesqueness and truthfulness. Lonely border towers, deeply embosomed in waving foliage, and bathing in the light of a golden sunset", this work being an exemplar of such.] Important Notice: On the fall of hammer any sale will be provisional dependent on a positive result of an Art Loss Register survey, which was commissioned prior to the auction and is still in progress.