River town in Northern France

sister of the artist, Margery Fry (1874-1958); acquired from her by Alec Clifton-Taylor (1907-1985) (his inscription on the former backing); Gift of Alec Clifton Taylor via the Art Fund, 1986

Watermark: Watermark: Recto, right centre: circle with a double border containing a fleur-de-lis / "B" (letter formed with single lines and no flourish on the vertical line; not found in Heawood, but see inscription regarding Fry's predilection for using old papers).

Collector's mark: none.

Inscription: Backing sheet (now removed but still mounted with the drawing): whole sheet, brown ink: "On August 1938 I spent some hours with Miss Margery Fry, sister of Roger Fry, and was able to look through several folios of Roger Fry’s / drawings watercolours and lithographs, and also about 50 sketchbooks. Miss Fry said that this watercolour was beyond any doubt / the work of her brother: though not signed, it was – to anyone familiar with his work – “signed all over”. She considered it a / particularly good example of his work, and thought it belonged to the early 1900s. She told me that he was in the habit of / buying old paper whenever he could, and that this rather rough paper, with interesting ‘texture,’ was what he particularly liked. / Nevertheless I found no other water-colour on exactly similar paper, and among many dozens, none so complete or finished, / on such a large scale as this one. Miss Fry suggested, as an explanation, that watercolours as elaborate as this would not / have remained in the artist’s sketchbooks: they would have been hung, exhibited, and perhaps sold (as this one was). / The earliest watercolours are delicate and precise and much smaller than this: they belong to the 1890s: I found a little one / of Notre Dame in Paris, dated 1891. Personally I felt this might [underlined] belong to the late 1890s, as, though more ambitious and altogether / grander than the early group, he preserves here his early precision and care – for instance, in the treatment of the / shuttered windows. The trees on the left also suggest his earlier manner. His love of architectural subjects persisted all / through his life, but later his treatment became broader and his colours brighter – but some [underlined] of the later watercolours seem / careless and unstudied compared with the loving care evident here. Miss Fry told me that he seldom troubled to sign / his work except when preparing for an exhibition (?and not always then): I noticed that hardly any of the work in the sketch- / books is signed. / As regards the place, Miss Fry thought Normandy, but so far I have been unable to identify it exactly. It is obviously Northern / France. / Alec Clifton Taylor Aug. 5. 1938”. Former backboard (now removed and kept in the object file): brown ink: the above inscription is copied exactly up to the line “I noticed that hardly any of the works in the sketch-books is signed” and below that in graphite is added: “As regards the place, Miss Fry thought Normandy – possibly Nantes.” It is then signed in brown ink “Alec Clifton-Taylor / Aug 5 1” and then the “938” of the date is added in graphite.

Label: Removed, now in the file: "SQUIRE GALLERY / Old & Modern Drawings & Paintings / Welbeck 2572 / 12 Baker Street / Portman Square ? W ? 1 / Roger Fry (1866-1934) / French Town on a River"; inscribed in graphite: "Jhn Cornforth thought it may / be Blois / 8 3/4 x 13 1/2 ins.".