Lot 31: The capture: "Where land and water kiss"

Herbert James Draper (1864-1920) The capture: "Where land and water kiss" signed 'Herbert Draper' (lower left) oil on canvas, in a painted oval 35 x 25 ½ in. (88.9 x 64.8 cm.)

88.9 x 64.8 cm.

London, Royal Academy, 1901, no. 845.

S. Toll, Herbert Draper 1863-1920; A Life Study, Woodbridge, 2003, pp. 28, 108-109, 119, 143, illus. pl. 21.

Anonymous sale; Phillips, London, 20 June 1995, lot 67.

In The Capture, 1901, Draper depicts a sea-nymph abducting a child garlanded with anemones. The figure of the child was modelled on Draper's young daughter Yvonne, born in 1900, who figures in many of his works as the Elf-child. Sea-nymphs, mermaids and sirens all feature prominently in Draper's works, often with a slight air of menace, as well as hints of a passionate and often savage sexuality. However in Simon Toll's catalogue raisonné of Draper's work he concludes that the subtitle 'Where Land and Water Kiss' 'suggests the amicable harmony of land and water, uniting the two elements in the happy conjunction of the nymph and child.' When the painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1901 it attracted critical admiration for the artist's 'good knowledge of anatomical drawing and modelling' and was described as 'one of Mr Draper's masterpieces...one of the notable pictures of the Academy.'