Edmund Morison Wimperis (English) 1835 – 1900
Picnicking on the Downs, watercolor, signed initials, about 8″ x 12″ sight, framed
Estimate: $750. NFS.
Please email an offer to purchase or a request for more information to thistlefineart.info@gmail.com.
Excellent condition. Re-framed in the mid-1970s. Purchased at Phillips Edinburgh in the mid-1970s. An offer over three times the purchase price was made for the painting before the end of the auction!
Edmund Morison Wimperis was born 6 February 1835, in Flocker’s Brook, Chester; in 25 December 1900 he was living in Southbourne, Christchurch, Hampshire. A British wood-engraver and watercolourist, he was a member of the Arts Club.
E. M. Wimperis was the eldest son of Mary and Edmund Richard Wimperis. a cashier of Messrs. Walker, Parker, & Co.’s lead works at Chester. Artistically, the members of this family were unusually talented and were all raised in Chester. They were close friends of Charles Kingsley, the author of Water Babies, who at that time was a canon of Chester Cathedral. Edmund’s children were members of the Naturalists Field Club, with Kingsley as the leader. They were also connected by marriage to the Brontës through Maria Branwell, the mother of the famous sisters.
About 1851, Edmund was apprenticed to the wood-engraver Mason Jackson, for seven years, and also trained under the tutelage of watercolourist Myles Birket Foster. From about 1863, he worked for the publisher Joseph Cundall and for the Illustrated London News. Later in his life, he started to paint and sketch with Thomas Collier. Although his reputation is based upon his watercolors, he did exhibit some work in oil.
When aged about 38 he became a professional landscape watercolourist and member of the Society of British Artists. In 1874, he joined the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, and went on to become one of its foremost members, being elected vice-president in 1895. In 1879–80, he accompanied his two sisters Fanny and Jenny on a visit to their sister, Susanna, married and living in Dunedin in New Zealand. He stayed for some months, exhibiting at the Otago Art Society in 1880.
He died at Southbourne, Christchurch, Hampshire, on 25 December 1900.
Edmund Morison Wimperis’ work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 20 USD to 5,310 USD, depending on the size, subject, and medium. Since 1998 the record price for this artist at auction is 5,310 USD for Across the Moor, sold at Christie’s South Kensington in 2000. The artist died in 1900.
While somewhat less desirable than the watercolor below, Picnicking on the Downs (my title), is of similar quality and condition. As can be seen below, different photographic reproduction have varied the color (the second image is much more like Picnicking). It should be noted that reflections of light off the paper through opaque pigments result in apprecible differencies in the visual impressions of a watercolor – part of the joy of watercolor art! Thus a camera with the same settings can produce different impressions of color with the changing light and/or image editing.
Arundel Castle – Watercolor, signed with initials, watercolour,
23 x 34 cm. (Sold Bonhams London in 2003.) Similar in size and palette to Picnicking on the Downs.
Alternate photograph:
Also by this artist:
Image Credit – Radnorshire Fine Arts Ltd
Image Credit – Sulis Fine Art
Images often do not adequately represent quality or condition. Reflections off glass or varnished surfaces sometimes alter color and clarity. All listings are fully guaranteed to be as described, however, and may be returned for a full refund (for any reason) within 30 days of purchase.
Purchase prices are inclusive of shipping/handling/insurance within the continental United States. Prospective buyers should email for shipment to other locations.
