Sale 213 Lot 512

HENRY HAROLD VICKERS
English, 1851-1918
SHEEP GRAZING BY STREAM IN MOUNTAIN LANDSCAPE,
Oil on metal panel
Signed lower right. Framed. Picturesque landscape features a tranquil river winding through a valley and a small flock of sheep grazes peacefully near the shade of a prominent, leafy tree. Artwork is presented in an ornate, gilded Victorian-style frame.

The verso undated handwritten text is roughly transcribed as follows: "An artist sketching through North-Wales would dream of missing the Lynn Valley, many sketches of Lynn scenery adorn my portfolio. This spot I thought one of my prettiest studies. The sheep are the pure Welsh breed,—you may see hundreds of them grazing on spots high up among the rocks, like their first-cousins, 'the goats.' Truly North-Wales is a veritable paradise for the landscape painter. Henry Harold Vickers."
Artwork: 8.5 x 10.75 inches (excluding frame)
$400-600

ARTIST PROFILE: Born in Dudley, Worcestershire, England, Henry Harold Vickers (1851–1918) was a multifaceted painter, draftsman, and educator who carried on a family legacy of artistry inherited from his grandfather, Alfred H. Vickers, Sr., and two uncles. After studying painting at the Birmingham and Midland Institute and anatomy at Queen’s College, he refined his landscape technique under Frederick Henry Henshaw before emigrating to Canada around 1881. Settling in Ottawa, Ontario, Vickers became a prominent figure in the local art community, teaching advanced drawing and exhibiting his work at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition in 1897 and 1901. Though he frequently captured the scenery of the Ottawa area, his oil paintings—specializing in rural landscapes, rivers, portraits, and livestock—often looked back to the English countryside. He lived out his later years in Ottawa with his wife, Jane Smith, and their four children.