R.J. Blesard: Yorkshire Landscapes (1832–34)
This painting forms part of an outstanding collection of topographical watercolours of Yorkshire views, which are the result of two summer tours in 1833 and 1834. They are the work of an R.J. Blesard, who is likely to be Robert John Blesard (1809–1839) of Woodhouse, Leeds. Described as 'Gentleman' in official records, he was the son of Robert Blesard (1773–1847), wool merchant, and his wife Susannah (1775–1855). The Blesards were a prominent Quaker family from the Guiseley area; Robert John's paternal grandmother was Phebe Arthington, the Arthingtons being another wealthy Quaker family from Leeds—the most famous of whom perhaps was Robert Arthington (1823–1900), philanthropist and recluse, known as the 'Headingley Miser'.
Robert Blesard is listed variously as resident at 18 Blenheim Terrace and 21 Blenheim Terrace in Woodhouse, Leeds—red brick villas now part of the University of Leeds. The Blesards are buried at Woodhouse Cemetery, along with many Leeds 'worthies'. In 1852, after the death of her husband and four of her five children, Susannah Blesard presented a stained glass window at St Mark's Church in Woodhouse in their memory. On Susannah's death, in 1856 a stone memorial was carved at the church by local sculptor Catherine Mawer in Susannah's honour and in recognition of her generosity: 'By her will she provided that an annual sum of money should be distributed at Christmas / to the poor of the district and of Guiseley her native Parish'.
These pictures tell a story of the profits of Victorian northern industry and also their associated cultural and charitable life. Robert John Blesard was a member of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society and his father donated to the Yorkshire Institution for the Deaf and the Dumb. In 1833 and 1834, aged 24–5, Robert John toured the Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire coast, painting topographical views in the vein of the newly popular illustrated publications compiled by antiquarians to make picturesque sites of Britain newly accessible to the public. The watercolours focus on natural and architectural features within the landscape, such as waterfalls, caves, abbeys and castles. With the addition of small figures to give a sense of the grand scale of nature and place the viewer in the scene, Blesard brings to his compositions a Romantic sense of atmosphere and the sublime. A number of the locations had been painted by J.M.W. Turner in the preceding decades, such as Hardraw Force and Aysgarth Force near Hawes, and Gordale Scar near Malham; in 1816 Turner had been commissioned to make 120 watercolours for the ambitious seven volume History of Yorkshire, and he returned to the county throughout his life.
Robert John Blesard died of consumption aged just thirty, bringing a poignancy to these watercolours, painted towards the end of his short life. His talents as a draughtsman apparently stayed undiscovered, remaining a work of private endeavour.
The collection bears the provenance of Captain Sir Charles Robert Bignold (1892–1970), who belonged to the prosperous Bignold family of Norwich; his ancestor Thomas had established the Norwich Union Insurance Company in 1797. Charles Robert Bignold was a distinguished collector of fine books—his ‘picture book’ estate sale was held at Sotheby’s in 1971—and the outstanding watercolours in this collection are a testament to Bignold’s fine connoisseurship.
