Information wanted on U.K. artist.now deceased,W.Maithison,who painted
a picture of Banbury Market Square around end of 19th Century

Hello oriela

Thank-you for your question, and thanks also to sluggy-ga for his
comment. When you first asked this question I had considered various
alternate spellings but not the double 'tt'!

Now I've found the signature online, I can see how the confusion
arose. Look at the way Matthison signed this view of Whitby Harbour:
http://www.roseberys.co.uk/Catalogues/AS170902/lot0614.jpg

William Matthison was born in 1854 in Harborne, near Birmingham. He
painted in both oils and watercolour, but it is his watercolours which
have been selling in quantity at auction in recent years. Favourite
subjects are Cotswolds scenes, Oxford nearby, and the north of
England. He also painted in North Wales, including the Lleyn
peninsula, and Cambridge.

After King Edward's School, he went to Birmingham School of Art and
then joined the Clarendon Art Fellowship, a group of artists who
painted together in the Midlands countryside.

At the age of 21 he made his first visit to the Cotswolds, on a
sketching trip, and three years later, in 1878, he married a
Warwickshire girl, Mary Hannah Fessey.

In the last few years of his life he was still painting vigorously
despite ill-health. He died in January 1926.

Apart from numerous college scenes in Oxford and the Banbury view you
know of, some of his other watercolours from Oxfordshire are:

The Evening Gleam on the Cherwell
Bloxham, Oxfordshire
Clifton Mill on the Cherwell
Iffley Lock, Oxford

A year ago the Whitby Harbour scene I referred to earlier was put in
an auction, with a companion piece, at a guide price of £1000-£1500
for the pair. Each was about 25cm by 53cm.
http://www.roseberys.co.uk/Catalogues/AS170902/page16.htm

A smaller watercolour/gouache, also a scene from the Whitby area, was
expected to fetch around £100 in a recent sale.
http://freespace.virgin.net/alan.toovey/cat%20pages/painting%20pages/paintings0001-0040.htm

Sometimes Matthison's work was reproduced on postcards, like this view
of Jesus College, Cambridge:
http://www.rubylane.com/ni/shops/books-n-things/iteml/CA11906

A book published in Oxford in 1912 used many of Matthison's
watercolours. The British Library in London lists it in its catalogue:

Fifty Water-Colour Drawings of Oxford [chiefly by W. Matthison]
reproduced in colour. With brief descriptive notes by E. C. Alden.
Alden & Co.: Oxford, [1912.]
http://blpc.bl.uk/

The book is illustrated by a dealer here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3536451600&category=12567#ebayphotohosting


================================


If you want to research this further, there are three possibilities I
can suggest.

For more information on prices for Matthison's work, you can pay $15
for the right to search the ArtPrice website for a day. There you
would find auction records for 57 of his watercolours and 2 oil
paintings. See their subscription information here:
http://web.artprice.com//client/Forms/unitselect.aspx


There's a Yorkshire art historian called Rowland Cooper who has been
studying and collecting Matthison's works for a quarter of a century.
If he doesn't already know about this Banbury picture, I imagine he'd
be delighted to hear from you. A year ago he appealed in a newspaper
for information on a particular painting. The article has contact
details at the end:
http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/the_cotswolds/archive/2002/07/12/cots_news_features007ZM.html


There would probably be an entry for the artist in the authoritative
multi-volume Benezit art encyclopaedia available at some large
libraries:
http://books-on-art.com/bzit99e.html


The Banbury painting sounds like an attractive, collectible work. I
hope you will find this information interesting, but please ask if I
can clarify anything further.


Best Wishes - Leli





Search strategy:

When you first posed the question, I tried with Mathison, Matheson
etc. but Matthison is not a common spelling in the UK, so I missed
that possibility.

Thanks to sluggy's comment, I searched with Matthison on the ArtPrice
database and found the painter's first name was William.

Then searched Google with

"William Matthison"
"W Matthison"
Matthison painter OR art OR painting

I aso checked some other art databases and libraries, but found
nothing further.

I believe you're looking for W.Matthison who worked from the late 19th
century to the early 20th century.

You may well be right.Do you by any chance have any information on this artist?

Just want to mention, 'sluggy' is a girl name ;)

I would like to point out, I am merely an onlooker, not a reseacher. I
thought I'd give whomever would research this the correct info,
without compromising their potential payment.