**Originally Listed At $300**

Attributed to Charles Napier Hemy RA (British, 1841-1917). Untitled. Graphite on paper, n.d. A lively drawing, intended as a study for a larger painting, depicting a pair of figures in a boat rowing away from the viewer and toward a larger vessel full of men. The horizon falls in the upper third of the image, and all figures appear full of action, while the sea, by contrast, appears smooth and calm. This drawing was attributed to Charles Napier Hemy by noted art collector Bill Bishop and bears a striking resemblance in style and subject to Hemy's other works. Size of drawing: 6.6" W x 3.6" H (16.8 cm x 9.1 cm) Size of frame: 15" W x 18.25" H (38.1 cm x 46.4 cm)

According to the label on the verso: "Born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, Charles Napier Hemy emigrated with his family to Australia in 1852. He returned to England three years later, signing aboard a merchant ship before making a decision to join a monastery. He spent three years first at the Dominican House in Newcastle and then in a monastery in Lyons, France. During that time he began to paint and decided to pursue art as a career. He studied at the Newcastle School of Art with history painter William Bell Scott, a friend of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Inspired by John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelite painters, Hemy joined William Morris' Queen Square Stained Glass Workshop. There he rendered the designs of artists like Edward Burne-Jones became close friends.

In 1862 Hemy saw the works of Belgian academic painter Baron Hendrik Leys at London's International Exhibition and decided to travel to Antwerp to study in Lays' atelier. Hemy exhibited at England's Royal Academy in 1869 and was elected to full membership in 1910. From 1870 to 1881 he lived in London. He later moved to Falmouth, where he fitted out a boat as a painting studio in order to follow fishing boats along the coast as he sketched. A landscape as well as marine painter, Hemy's depiction of the open seas are particularly strong and vibrant, conveying a great sense of movement.

Among the museums containing his works are the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; the Tate Gallery, London; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle; National Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Hemy's younger brothers Thomas Hemy (1852-1937) and Bernard Benedict Hemy (1855-1913) were also marine painters."

Provenance: ex-private Bishop Family Trust collection, the Trust of the late Bill Bishop, a noted antiquarian with shops in Scottsdale, Arizona and Allenspark, Colorado, USA, acquired before 2010

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#173764

Set in custom matte and gilt wood frame with suspension wire on verso for display. A few minor nicks to frame, petite mark to interior of glass, and tearing to gallery paper on verso. Three old labels on gallery paper; one mentioned in extended description, one from framer, and third stating that this sketch is from a sketchbook purchased at Sotheby's in 1976. Drawing has not been examined outside of frame but appears to be in excellent overall condition.