(London 1839–1918 Wimereux)
Kindred spirits, signed, dated L. P. Smythe 1879, oil on canvas, 85 x 60 cm, framed, (GG)

Provenance:
Private Collection Italy.

Lionel Percy Smythe was born in London. However, while he was still a boy, he spent long periods of time in France. Childhood holidays were spent at Wimereux in Normandy. As an adult, Smythe and his wife Alice Gunyon (1847-1916) made frequent visits to France and from 1879 onwards the family lived almost entirely in Normandy. By 1881 they had moved to the Château d’Honvault at Wimille, a peaceful village between Wimereux and Boulogne, which would become his principal home and a frequent subject of his paintings for the rest of his life. It provided the artist with the sea, pastoral views and the simple life he loved. In 1879 he exhibited at the Royal Academy a work called ‘Kindred Spirits’. This depicts a child on a swing with two cats, and is thought to be Smythe’s daughter Nora in the garden at 36 Gloucester Crescent in London. This work (76 x 56 cm) is currently preserved at the Walker Art Gallery. Painted in the same year, the present lot is a slightly larger version (85 x 60 cm) depicting the artist’s daughter on a swing with a dog and a cat instead of two cats. It is a particularly characteristic example of Smythe’s art: a small child with beloved pets.