Beschreibung:

William John Leech RHA ROI (1881-1968) Boats Oil on panel, 37 x 46cm (14½ x 18'') Signed Provenance: Sent by W.J. Leech to Leo Smith, Dawson Gallery, via Bourlet, 20/03/51. Recorded in the list, for death duties, by Leo Smith, No. 26 'Boats', as works retained in the Dawson Gallery. Leech stayed at Christchurch, when May Botterell, then his long term partner, was ill and was cared for by her family at Burnley in the New Forest, which was close by. He wrote to his New Zealand friend S.L.Thompson, dated 5 May 1948; I am not, however, at 20 Abbey Rd at the moment but at Christchurch, Hants,�Ǫ..it is in sight of the Isle of Wight, on a land locked sea �Ǫ. He painted the region, the old Church and graveyard and the River Stour, which is joined by the River Avon before it flows through the harbour into the English Channel. The harbour at Christchurch was used to land oysters, crab, lobster and cuttle fish and the river is navigable up to Tuckton where Leech also did a series of paintings Tuckton Creek Sunlight and Tuckton Creek (Municipal Art Collection, Drogheda) which depict similar boats moored in the harbour as in High tide on the Stour, 1949 (Coll. Parknasilla Hotel, Kerry) which is a freely painted scene of still water with boats moored along the far bank. In the present work, Boats similar, small, flat-bottomed rowing boats, moored along the banks of a river are depicted. Leech captures sunlight on the boats and water, using light tones of yellow and Cerulean blue. He paints the water and the reflections of the boats, bathed in sunshine, in a free, fluid style, rendering the viscosity of the water in strokes of light blues and soft greens. On the back of the painting, in Leechs handwriting, he has written Flake White and Aureolin which is sometimes referred to as Cobalt Yellow, which may have been guidance to a picture restorer. Characteristically he has written in block letters WAXED to prevent anyone varnishing the work. There is a stamp from the art supplier, L.Rontani, Rue de President, Nice on the back of the panel but Leech used materials he had previously purchased in France, where he had been unable to visit after the outbreak of the war in 1939. There is also a label referring to the Centenary Exhibition in Wellington, N.Z, 1939-1940 which Leech participated in, but it had to have been an earlier work than Boats. In his letter to S.L.Thompson, he wrote that There is quite a lot of sunshine here, it must be one of the sunniest places in England, and there are boats and water�Ǫ�Ǫ Leech has regained some of his former confidence in using light and colour and now, out of London, after the war, he is motivated by the colour of the boats on the water along the quiet estuary. There is a Bourlet Label on the back and checking the transport agents, Bourlet records, the firm brought in 8 works on 17:3:51. In a letter to Leo Smith on 20th March 1951, Leech wrote that he had despatched to Bourlets yesterday for you. It may be necessary to add a little to the prices to help cover the expense of framing if that is rather a heavy item as it may be these times. One of these 8 works, No.3, is titled Boats, which is oil on panel and which is the same size as the present work. These 8 works were sent to the Dawson Gallery for Leechs solo exhibition of thirty-three works, planned for May 1951 with Sean Keating opening the show. Leech had already sent over eighteen paintings in August 1950 and a further fourteen paintings in October 1950. In his letter to Leo Smith he wrote: I do hope you will like them, I think they are rather a good lot myself�Ǫ. I hope you will let me know how you like the pictures, and that they will arrive quickly and safely. Dr Denise Ferran, October 2019. William John Leech RHA ROI (1881-1968) Boats Oil on panel, 37 x 46cm (14½ x 18'') Signed Provenance: Sent by W.J. Leech to Leo Smith, Dawson Gallery, via Bourlet, 20/03/51. Recorded in the list, for death duties, by Leo Smith, No. 26 'Boats', as works retained