Steven Spurrier RA RBA ROI, Portrait of a Cavalier – c.1907 gouache painting

Steven Spurrier RA RBA ROI Portrait of a Cavalier

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An original c.1907 gouache painting, Steven Spurrier RA RBA ROI, Portrait of a Cavalier.

A fantastic gouache portrait by theatrical artist and illustrator Steven Spurrier RA (1878–1961). This smiling cavalier is likely to be an early work by Spurrier (described on the verso as 'in early days') and is similar in style to another portrait by the artist which was executed in 1907 as part of The Langham Sketching Club.

Steven Spurrier was much inspired by his love of music and theatre. The portrait combines a sense of traditional theatricality with a fabulous modernity: a limited pastel palette applied in a minimum of expressive, suggestive brushstrokes. Spurrier's figure re-presents Frans Hals's Laughing Cavalier (1624)—which after its exhibition in England 1872–1875 had become one of the best known old master paintings—a reworking of tradition in a modern style.

On board.

Steven Spurrier RA RBA ROI NS PS (1878–1961)

Steven Spurrier RA RBA ROI NS PS (1878–1961) was the son of a designer silversmith based in the City of London. In 1895 he followed his father in becoming an apprentice silversmith. He also attended evening classes at Heatherley's School of Art and then at the Gilbert Garrett School. In 1900, he gave up silverwork and became a freelance magazine illustrator. His work appeared in magazines such as Madame, Black and White, The Graphic, Illustrated London News, The Windsor Magazine and the Radio Times. As he established himself, he joined the Langham Sketching Club (1906) and produced Black and White: A Manual of Illustration (1909).

He exhibited oils and watercolours at leading London societies, including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Society of Painters in Oils, of which he became a member in 1912.

Spurrier was a war artist in both world wars, including working for the Admiralty in World War One developing dazzle camouflage for ships. Between the wars he began a long association with The Illustrated London News as a ‘special artist’, and in 1934 he turned to book work, choosing to illustrate an edition of William Wycherley’s Restoration comedy, The Country Wife. This reflected his interest in theatre and circus, encouraged by a friendship with Laura Knight.

Spurrier went on to be elected as a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (1933), the National Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, the Pastel Society, and the Royal Academy (1952). He was made a fellow of the Zoological Society of London and elected Honorary Secretary of the British Society of Poster Designers.