Edgar Bundy
A Witch , 1823 (Executed)
Lot #319 |
2022-10-20 |
Sotheby's, New York
19th-Century Works of Art
Category:
Painting
Estimate:
USD 10,000 - 15,000 (currency of sale)
Price Sold:
Auction Details
Auction house: Sotheby's
Auction number: N11049
Auction name: 19th-Century Works of Art
Auction type: Fine Art
Location: New York
Start date: 2022-10-20
Currency: USD
Source:
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Lot Description
Details
Genre: 19th Century British Art
Department: Painting & Works on Paper
Medium: Login to view
Dimensions: 3/16 by 40 3/8 in.
Item measurements:
Height In Centimeters:
158
Width In Centimeters:
102.5
Height In Inches:
62.188
Width In Inches:
40.375
Markings: Login to view
Signed: Login to view
Edition: 16
Edition notes: Edition 3/16.
Year notes: Executed between 1823 and 1906.
Provenance
Private collection, South Carolina
Exhibited
London, Royal Academy, 1896, no. 101 Catalogue note The murder of Bridget Cleary, an Irish dressmaker accused of being a witch by her family and burned alive in March 1895, captivated audiences across the United Kingdom who read of her tragic and violent death and followed the ensuing trial. The crime and its incessant coverage in England, where the last witch trial was in 1751, fueled debate over Ireland's ability to self-govern despite their desire to secure internal autonomy within the British Empire. Painted a year after the murder and
Literature
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1896, no. 101, p. 8. Witchcraft: The Library of Esoterica , Jessica Hundley and Pam Grossman, eds., 2021, p. 261, illustrated.
Catalog summary
Private collection Edgar Bundy British 1862-1922 A Witch signed and dated Edgar Bundy 1896 (lower left) oil on canvas canvas: 62 3/16 by 40 3/8 in.; 158 by 102.5 cm framed: 71 1/4 by 49 in.; 180.9 by 124.4 cm Provenance Private collection, South Carolina Literature The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1896, no. 101, p. 8. Witchcraft: The Library of Esoterica , Jessica Hundley and Pam Grossman, eds., 2021, p. 261, illustrated. Exhibited London, Royal Academy, 1896, no. 101 Catalogue note The murder of Bridget Cleary, an Irish dressmaker accused of being a witch by her family and burned alive in March 1895, captivated audiences across the United Kingdom who read of her tragic and violent death and followed the ensuing trial. The crime and its incessant coverage in England, where the last witch trial was in 1751, fueled debate over Ireland's ability to self-govern despite their desire to secure internal autonomy within the British Empire. Painted a year after the murder and exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British public of 1896 would have recalled the Cleary case and may have seen Bundy's cackling witch as a disparaging commentary on the Irish Home Rule Movement. Bundy's early life as an artist, with no formal training, is shrouded in mystery. He is recorded as having worked in the studio of Alfred Stevens (1823-1906) and first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1881. He later exhibited at the Paris Salon and in 1915 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy.