Fildes, born in Liverpool, was an illustrator, genre and portrait painter and attended Warrington School of Art full-time between 1860 and 1863; Woods was born in Warrington and attended the same school from the age of nine. The pair often worked closely together, and indeed it is thought that these two paintings were produced in the same period, during one of FildesÂ’ many visits to Woods at his home in Venice. The artists gifted the paintings as a pair to the Arts Club in Mayfair and they been displayed alongside one another ever since. It is Warrington Museum and GalleryÂ’s intention to now keep the works together for posterity, allowing for a comparison of WoodÂ’s and FildesÂ’ styles at a documented moment in their careers, while also reflecting the close friendship and later familial ties (Fildes married WoodÂ’s sister, Fanny) between two important British artists, and leaders of the neo-Venetian school.

Artists include

• Sir Samuel Luke Fildes
• Henry Woods

Provenance

The Arts Club (gift of the artists); The Maas Gallery, 2009.