Sir Edward John Poynter P.R.A. Preparatory Study For The Cave Of The Storm Nymphs Circa.1900

Sir Edward John Poynter P.R.A. 1836-1919. British School 19th.Century. Pencil and chalk drawing. The preparatory study for the purse and coins depicted in Poynters late masterwork "The Cave Of The Storm Nymphs". 35.5 by 24 cms. Monogrammed EJP in pencil lower right. Provenance: Arnold Fellows Collection No.290. Possibly bequeathed, with the rest of the Fellows collection, to Queen Mary’s Grammar School, Walsall. Property of a Charitable Trust, until 2019.

The finished painting depicts the Sirens or Nymphs of mythology that lure sailors to their deaths. One siren is depicted playing a golden stringed shell lyre while the other two sirens rejoice by throwing coins and writhing in ecstasy, expecting to add to the cave’s treasure as the ship founders on the rocks outside.

Poynter painted two versions, one in 1902 and the other in 1903, with minor differences. The former is housed in the Norfolk Virginia Hermitage Museum and the latter is in a UK private collection.

Poynter trained in London and Paris, and established his fame with his immense painting, Israel in Egypt, 1867. He worked on a number of decorative schemes and his paintings of mythological subjects won him a considerable contemporary reputation. Widely considered to be the most accurate and accomplished draughtsman of his era. He was appointed the first Slade Professor in 1871, and director of art at South Kensington in 1875, Poynter was influential in introducing French principles of art teaching into England. He later served as Director of the National Gallery from 1894-1904, and as President of the Royal Academy from 1896-1918.