Title: John Steane (b.1931); University Parks Oxford Landscape with Pine Tree and Summer Shadows Description: Title: Italian Market Scene with Umbrellas and Bell Tower Signed Continental Street By Tony Herbert (1927-2024) Signed: Bottom right corner Medium: Watercolor on paper, unframed Size: 9 inches (height) x 12.75 inches (width) Condition: good, will some signs on wear consistent with aging Provenance: From a large private collection of this artists work, Oxford, England Description: This lively and atmospheric watercolour by Tony Herbert (1927–2024) captures a bustling European street market, likely in Italy, based on the architectural features and Mediterranean palette. A crowd of figures mills about beneath cream and ochre market canopies, while a Romanesque bell tower rises elegantly in the background, surrounded by terracotta-roofed buildings and mature trees. The painting is signed lower right and exemplifies Herbert’s later plein air style: fluid, expressive, and sparing in detail, yet rich in life and movement. Though undated, the style and subject matter are consistent with his Continental travel works of the 1980s and 1990s. Street scenes such as this were a key part of Herbert’s travel practice, often sketched on location and later worked up into finished pieces. The spontaneity of this composition — with shifting figures, blurred shadows, and warm light — lends a documentary quality to the image, as though one has stumbled into a fleeting moment of daily life. The delicate interplay of washes and dry brush marks brings energy to the square’s surface without overpowering the scene. Likely set in Venice, Florence, or a Tuscan town such as Lucca or San Gimignano, this work is perfect for collectors of European travel painting, street market scenes, or modern British watercolourists with an eye for light and atmosphere.
Reserve: $346.00
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