catalog text
"BEFORE THE HUNT" LANDSCAPE PAINTING BY JOHN SYER, JR. (BRITISH, 1846 - 1913)
In oil on canvas, signed lower right "J. Syer 188.."
Item # 012IRM11P
A fine open landscape depicting a group of men and women gathered before a large manor on their horses to begin an afternoon hunt. The grounds are well-tailored with sweeping grass and random tree clusters before the neoclassical house. It is signed in the lower right "J. Syer" and is illegibly dated to the 1880s. Sometimes confused with his father, John Syer, Jr. was a well-regarded landscape and marine painter with a large body of genre work. The present work is bright and cheery and is hung in a somewhat later giltwood frame with an old plaque that inadvertently attributes the work to John Syer, Sr. by the date.
Measurements: 24 1/8" H x 33 5/8" W [canvas]; 30 5/16" H x 39 3/8" W x 2 3/8" D [frame]
Condition Report:
Relined. Light surface craquelure throughout. Very minor surface grime - could benefit from being professionally cleaned at some point in the future, though it still presents beautifully. Under UV examination, the sky flares with various touchups and later varnishes that somewhat obscure examination; far right above highest tree shows a large area of inpainting in the sky; within the right-most tree three spots of inpainting in the leaves and one long right-angled spot just above the trunk of the tree; trees on the left have at least nine small spots of inpainting along with touch-ups to some distant tree trunks; other small touch ups here and there. All of these can be viewed by looking at our UV images.