🖼️ Arthur Wardle (British, 1864–1949)

🌿 “Exmoor” — Rare Landscape Oil, circa 1900

Oil on canvas laid on board, in gilt frame

🏞️ Subject & Medium

A finely painted Exmoor moorland landscape by celebrated British animal and sporting painter Arthur Wardle, here working in a rarer and highly desirable landscape subject. The scene shows a winding track cutting through open moorland and heather-covered hills beneath a bright, expansive sky with drifting clouds.

The colour palette is a major strength of the painting: warm russet, mauve, and heather-purple tones dominate the land, interwoven with soft mossy greens and ochres, while the sky is painted in clear, luminous blues with gentle white and cream cloud forms. The result is a landscape that feels both warm and open, grounded and airy at the same time.

Medium: Oil on canvas laid on board.
Signed: lower right “Arthur Wardle”.

🎨 Composition, Technique & Colour

Wardle structures the composition around a pale, stony track that leads the eye naturally into the distance, creating a strong sense of depth and space. The moorland is built with layered, broken brushwork that gives the surface a tactile, wind-swept quality.

• Foreground and hills: rich mixtures of russet, aubergine, heather-purple, moss green, and earthy brown create depth and variation rather than flat colour.

• Path and highlights: soft creams, pale ochres, and stone greys guide the eye and introduce light into the centre of the painting.

• Sky: a beautifully judged range of cool blues and soft whites keeps the composition open and luminous.

The balance between warm earth colours and cool sky tones makes the painting exceptionally decorator-friendly and easy to place in both traditional and contemporary interiors.

🏛️ Historical Importance

This painting belongs to the long British tradition of moorland and heathland landscapes, which were especially admired in the late Victorian and Edwardian period as expressions of open air, rural calm, and national landscape identity. Exmoor, in particular, was celebrated as one of southern Britain’s most unspoilt and atmospheric regions.

What makes this example especially appealing is that Arthur Wardle is primarily known for animals and sporting scenes, so a confident and well-resolved landscape by him is comparatively uncommon. Works like this were traditionally bought for libraries, studies, and drawing rooms as calm, tasteful pictures that conveyed both refinement and a love of the British countryside—a role this painting still fulfils perfectly today.

👨🎨 About the Artist – Arthur Wardle

Arthur Wardle is one of the best-known British animal painters of the late 19th and early 20th century, admired for his accuracy, natural observation, and painterly confidence. While dogs and sporting subjects dominate his reputation, he was a versatile artist and exhibited widely.

✨ Career highlights include:

• Exhibitor at the Royal Academy

• One-man exhibition at the Fine Art Society (1931)

• Exhibition at Vicars Gallery (1935)

✍️ Signature

Signed “Arthur Wardle” lower right.

🖼️ Framing

Presented in a handsome traditional gilt frame.
Note: previous auction cataloguing indicates the frame is later and re-gilded rather than original to the painting.

📏 Size

Framed: approximately 37 cm (H) × 45 cm (W) × 3 cm (D).
A highly versatile and easy-to-place size.

📜 Provenance

🧾 Burstow & Hewett (UK), Fine Art Sale, 17 November 2022, Lot 525, sold as “Arthur Wardle… oil on canvas laid on board… Exmoor… signed.”
Thereafter acquired into a private / trade collection.

🏛️ Exhibition History

No specific exhibition label is attached to this individual painting. However, Wardle’s broader exhibition career is well documented, including the Royal Academy and later solo/exhibition presentations at the Fine Art Society (1931) and Vicars Gallery (1935).

💚 Why You’ll Love It

✅ A rare landscape subject by Arthur Wardle
✅ Rich, harmonious Exmoor heather and moorland colour palette
✅ Strong sense of space and depth from the winding track
✅ Balanced warm and cool tones—works beautifully in interiors
✅ A timeless British landscape by a collected and exhibited artist
✅ Ideal for library, study, hallway, or country-house setting

🔍 Condition Report

Offered in good antique condition overall.

• Painting surface: generally good, with foxing/light staining and minor paint loss toward edges consistent with age

• Frame: general wear, scuffs, and small chips commensurate with age and use
  📸 Please consult photographs carefully as part of the condition description.