September 2005 Fine Art and Antiques Auction
Lot 9. A Horse and Cart on a Country Lane. Oil on canvas, 17-1/2" x 23-1/2" canvas size, with antique frame 25" x 31", no signature found. A typical subject for Nasmyth (also Naesmyth), a well-documented landscape painter. His life appears to have been somewhat tumultuous, having begun to pursue his artistic tendencies sketching in the countryside while he should have been in school at a young age. His right hand was injured in an accident when he was a boy, so he disciplined himself to paint with his left. In addition to this handicap, he became deaf after an illness before the age of 20, after which he seems to have lead a Bohemian style life in London. His paintings were very popular however in London and on the Continent, and he exhibited regularly. He is reputed to have scratched out a living as a painter, and died of influenza during a thunderstorm when he was 46 years old, exemplifying what is now called a "starving artist".
1000.00/2000.00 Sold $2,587.50