English Victorian painter Henry John Yeend King studied painting in London and in Paris, learning both traditional academic techniques and the new plein air methods that were coming into practice.
Yeend King specialized in landscape and genre paintings of rustic scenes, often with young women going about their chores, gathering flowers, waiting for and riding in small ferries, or strolling through the countryside.
His paint application was sometimes quite direct and textural, to the point of appearing roughly applied in places. Unfortunately, it is perhaps that character that makes some of the reproductions of his work on the web appear to suffer from spotted reflections in their photographs.
The best reproductions of his work I’ve found are on BBC’s Your Paintings, and the Bonham’s auction site. Images on the latter are zoomable, but there is no thumbnail index; I’ve provided a Google Images search link
If the link I’ve given here doesn’t work for you, go to images.google.com and type in: “Henry John Yeend King site:bonhams.com”. You can try the same thing with Sotheby’s, but the results are a little less consistent.
I dont feel happy looking at these paintings. It’s almost like the shadows are there for spite and the texture expresses an illusion to the fact women are chore keepers. Hmmm. Interesting!
Thanks for your comment, Bernard.
It’s interesting. I see them quite differently — work is inevitable, for men and women, and I see the rural folk depicted going about theirs in the midst of quiet, subtle beauty.
Interesting comment Bernard. Perhaps a more modern sensibility?
The only thing I find odd is some of the figures seem to almost be pasted on the background and at odds with the rest of the painting.
Although maybe part of that reason is seeing them in reproduction enhances it for the worse. I will say often I see works in museums where they appear completely different than in reproductions.
Case in point Degas’ Ballet pastel’s at the Norton Simon Museum.
They did not grab my attention until I saw the originals. I was blown away by their intensity.
Thanks for the comment, David. I agree; some pieces, and particular artists, seem to suffer more in reproduction than others. I think that is the case with Yeend King’s work.
Side question for Yeend King picture. I have a large black and white pencil drawing print of a woman walking down a lane with people in the distance behind her and houses to her right. It is signed by Yeend King and William Cox on the mat. I want to know the name of it. I’ve look through the sites with pictures and don’t see it. Any idea where I can find it or what the name of it might be? Or why these two men signed it. Thank you