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Henry La Thangue (British, c.1859 – 1929)

Paddling amongst the bulrushes

oil on canvas. c.1882-6

signed ‘H.H. LA THANGUE’ (lower right)

12.1/8 x 16.1/8 in. (30.8 x 41 cm.)

Henry Herbert La Thangue was born in Croydon in 1859. He first studied painting at the Lambeth School or Art, progressing to the Royal Academy of Arts between 1874-79. After receiving a gold medal for his work in 1879, La Thangue secured a prestigious three-year scholarship at the Parisian École des Beaux-Arts, in the studio if Jean-León Gerome. It was here at the École des Beaux-Arts that La Thangue was heavily influenced by the Barbizon school of open-air landscape painting a movement is characterised by tonal and soft genre scenes of village life, farms, and the landscapes of Barbizon in France.

Early in his career, La Thangue spent time painting on the coast of Brittany and in Donzère in the Rhone valley. Returning to England 1886, after becoming a member of the Royal Institute of Oil painters, La Thangue exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Society of British Artists, and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. La Thangue’s interest in photography and photo-realistic depictions flourished in the late 1880’s, upon moving to South Walsham in Norfolk.

La Thangue’s ‘Paddling amongst the bullrushes’ is an early work of La Thangue, perhaps a scene painted when the artist was working in France in 1883. This painting has undertones of French impressionism. The composition conveys La Thangue’s brilliant rendering of light. The golden hues of light, and yellow tone of the bullrushes create a hazy yet peaceful atmosphere. Later in his career, La Thangue was renowned for the use of dappled sunlight in his realistic rural scenes. It was noted that “Sunlight was a thing that attracted him”.

This is a beautiful example of La Thangue’s rural landscape painting, exhibiting a highly confident understanding of light.

La Thangue’s collection has been exhibited at distinguished galleries worldwide, including the Towner Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts and various galleries in Manchester, Aberdeen, and Glasgow. La Thangue’s ‘In the Orchard’ oil painting sold at auction with a hammer price of £285,000 in 2009.

The Return of the Reapers, 1886, The Tate Gallery

Portrait of a Young Girl, c.1880, Towner Gallery

Violets for Perfume, c1913, Royal Academy of Arts

Manchester City art galleries, Aberdeen, and Glasgow