Study above: Dunedin, The Sawyers (5-1932), 57.5×46.5cm, ink, wash and charcoal on paper laid on card, added paper lower portion, monogram b.r. Prov: Purchased 1932 for £100 from Murray Fuller Collection of British Pictures with funds from Peter Smeaton Bequest. Exh: Barbizon House. Dunedin, 2012-2013. Ill: Newbolt, 1908 (plate 24). Zwanzig Graphische Arbeiten (14). Woodworker, ‘An Almost Extinct Craft’, April 1963. Vere Cole Diana, Brangwyn in Perspective, One Roof Press, 2006
1904
Zinc, 58×46.5cm
Edition: Newbolt says 1st (trial) state: 6 impressions. 2nd (trial) state: 2 impressions. 3rd state: 60 proofs taken. FAS states 1st (published) state: 50 impressions. Very dark and cloudy sky. 2nd (published) state: Sky removed so almost untouched apart from a few diagonals.
Owners: Amsterdam (RP-P-1927-814). Bath (BATVG:P:1943.58, 1st (published) state) Brangwyn gift 1943. Brighton (FA207160) (AP149) Brangwyn gift, 1935. Bruges (0.1093, 1st state), signed in full in pencil b.r. and inscribed b.l. ‘Sawyers’, Brangwyn gift. Brussels (S.III 65735). Cardiff (NMW A12797). Dundee (Br-63-1939). Dresden. Glasgow (PR.1933.3.c) signed in full b.r. Johannesburg (P100). London BM (1913,0522.5 artist’s proof) signed in pencil. London WMG (BrP110, 2nd state), signed in full in pencil b.r. Moscow. Scarborough (SCAAG:452, 1st (published) state). Tokyo (DEP.G 1985-19). Vienna
Possibly New York Public Library, Orange
Related works: London WMG (BrO67), Men Sawing, oil on canvas, 43.1×31.7cm
Lit: Newbolt, 1908 (45). FAS, 1912 (43). Gaunt, 1926 (43). Gillow, 1974, p64. Marechal, 1987, p201. Horner, Brangwyn – Man of the People, Scarborough Museums Trust, 2016, p34. Horner, 2023, pE41
Ill: Pica, 1907, p165. Pica Vittorio, L’Arte Mondiale alla VII Esposizione di Venezia, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche, 1907, p197. Newbolt, 1908 (plate 25). Vienna catalogue, 1909. FAS, 1912 (43). Shaw Sparrow, 1915, facing p196. Gaunt, 1926 (43, 1st state). Lazareva, 1978, plate 61. Marechal, 1987, p201. Horner, 2023, pE41
Exh: London, 1907 (2), 12 guineas. Venice, 1907. Vienna, 1909. Melbourne, 1909 (4) £21, 1st state. New York, 1910. Manchester, 1912 (1) 12 guineas. Paris, 1912. Paris, 1915 (19). Tokyo, 1918. Queen’s Gate, 1924 (74). Brighton, 1935 (49). Moscow, 1967 (3). Bath, 1983 (24). Scarborough, 1994 (8). London WMG, 2000. London WMG, 2006. Brighton, 2007. Scarborough 2016
Based on a sketch made in a shipyard in Boulogne, northern France, Pas-de-Calais. A tree trunk resting on trestles is being sawn into planks by two men using a double handed saw known as a rip-saw. The man above wielding the T-shaped handle wears clogs, the pitman below holds on to two round wooden drums placed on the saw which prevented his hands being damaged. Woodworker noted the accuracy of the detailed drawing.
FAS 1912 12 guineas, 1914 12 guineas