Richard Doyle

(British, 1824-1883)

'Fish out of water': Sailors from H.M.S. The Galatea Keeping the Ground on the Occasion of the Entry into London, after the Marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh

watercolor and graphite on paper

signed with monogram RD (lower right)

13 3/4 x 19 3/4 inches.

This lot is located in Chicago.

Exhibited:

(possibly) Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland, 1984, Richard Doyle and his family

Chicago, The Newberry Library, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Sherlock Holmes, April 9 - July 12, 2003

Provenance:

Sold: Christie's London. November 26, 1999, Lot 92

Lot note:

The title of this watercolor is a traditional identification and must refer to another Royal arrival into London. HMS Galatea was Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh's usual ship. However, on the return from their marriage in St. Petersburg, the Duke and Duchess arrived into Windsor by train having docked at Gravesend.

Richard Doyle was fascinated by processions and the present lot is an example of this interest in the interrelation of figures in a crowd scene, something he translated into his many fairy pictures, for which he is best known. Doyle came from a remarkable artistic family. His brothers Charles and James were both artists and his nephew was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), creator of the famous London sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.