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Artist or Maker: Theodore Matthias von Holst (1810-1844)

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Provenance: Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 14 November 1996, lot 96.

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Notes: Von Holst was a genre painter who studied at the Royal Aacdemy under Fuseli, in whose manner he worked. He is generally a more colourful artist than his master, as can be seen in this present watercolour. The theme of Hero and Leander was a favourite subject of von Holst's, he executed an oil painting of the subject, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1840, no. 947 (private collection).

The year and inscription 'Cheltenham' on the present work is significant as it was the year that the Von Holst family actually moved to Cheltenham, see I. Holst, Gustav Holst, Oxford, 1938, p. 4.

According to legend, Leander, a youth from Abydos, fell in love with Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite on the opposite shore of Sestos. Nightly Leander would swim across the waters to meet his lover. In the present watercolour we see Hero guiding Leander to shore with a lighted torch. One stormy night Leander drowned and Hero, in despair threw herself into the sea and perished.

We are grateful to Max Browne for his help in preparing this catalogue entry.

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