On The Market… Summer Garden

Posted on May 21, 2024 by webmaster

Back to the market for 2024 comes, Summer Garden, which is being sold under the working title, Landscape With Girls In The Rose Garden, by Lodge & Thomas Auctioneers in Truro as part of a two-day auction event. Lot 1805 is scheduled to go under the hammer on Friday 31st May 2024.

Please see our previous ‘On The Market…‘ write-up and observations of this wonderful painting (06/01/2023), whilst noting that as before, we have no affiliation to the seller or to the auction sale. Happy bidding!

The painting is being offered for sale via online auction through The Saleroom – HERE.

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On The Market… Two Devon Landscapes

Posted on January 6, 2023 by webmaster

Fresh to the market for 2023 come two very different paintings – both reflecting a Devon landscape – both being offered for auction through Bearnes, Hampton & Littlewood of Exeter, as part of their Winter Sale on 17th and 18th January, 2023.

The first, a colourful summer garden scene, depicts a young girl with dark hair seated on a deckchair, turning to greet the arrival of her friend who is entering the distinctive cottage garden gate, a short distance away. Both girls are wearing summer dresses of the period; the new arrival of rosy complexion despite donning a straw hat for protection from the intense sun. She carries a small parcel in her hand.

To their right, the thatch roof of a traditional Devon cottage peaks into view, standing proud above the colourful array of cottage garden flowers of a quintessentially English garden setting. Beyond the garden, rolling hills stretch out above a wooded landscape, meeting the clear blue sky dotted with light, fluffy clouds upon the horizon.

Although the painting dates from 1930, the colours remain vibrant, having been mounted behind glass. The painting has been in one family ownership for the past 55+ years, and although the artist has not indicated the location of the garden, we are told that family tradition suggests it is possibly a Dartmoor scene (around Widecombe in the Moor), although sadly, this cannot be substantiated.

Cecil Round died on 20th June 1933 and so this scene was painted towards the end of this life. It is one of only two paintings dated 1930 currently referenced within our database. This in itself doesn’t prove anything but we are yet to come across any paintings with a later date attribution; although there are many undated examples of his work which may succeed it. The painting is being offered for sale via online auction – HERE.

The second painting is more typical of Cecil Round’s coastal landscapes and can more clearly be identified as Anstey’s Cove, near Torquay. The painting is undated but the colour of the shrubs and trees in the foreground, possibly suggest an autumnal setting.

Beyond the path, leading to what appears to be a sandy beach (today it is shingle) within the sweeping cove, exposed cliffs rise above the coastline, clearly reflecting in the clear blue waters of the sea below, where a couple of sailing boats dot the horizon. You may wish to compare and contrast the painting with Anstey’s Cove today using this tourist office video from 2018 as your guide – HERE.

Cecil Round was familiar with Devon throughout most of his life, having first painted here in the 1880s, and having been living in Torquay when he died in 1933. Of particular relevance to this painting, he is known to have painted Anstey’s Cove in 1890 but our records indicate this was a larger painting, annotated accordingly.

The painting is being offered for sale via online auction – HERE.

As ever, we leave it to the collector’s own judgement in terms of determining valuation and price tag, whilst noting that we have no affiliation to the seller of either painting or to the auction sale. Happy bidding!

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On The Market… 2022 Round-Up

Posted on January 4, 2023 by webmaster

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch with us throughout the past year, and especially to those of you who have been kind enough to share news and images of your Cecil Round paintings, for our Online Gallery and News updates.

Over the course of 2022, several people contacted us offering Cecil Round paintings for sale. We were not able to directly match these paintings to prospective buyers and so two of the paintings subsequently went to public auction. One we were given advance notice of and were able to promote through our ‘On The Market…’ feature; the other, we only heard about retrospectively.

Interestingly, both paintings featured landscape scenes and appear to have been a similar size and condition. However, the auction sale promoted through ‘On The Market…’ achieved a hammer price nearly seven times greater than the unprompted sale, despite both paintings selling through reputable auction houses, and within days of each other. Coincidence? Maybe… but why leave it to chance!

If you are thinking of selling a Cecil Round painting in 2023, please do share the sale details in advance, and we will be happy to promote your auction or fixed price listing. There is no charge for this service; we are just happy to act as a clearing house for all things relating to Cecil Round’s work. In the meantime, please join us in dusting-off your Cecil Round paintings, as we wish a ‘Happy New Year’ to you all.

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On The Market… Golden Days of Summer

Posted on November 25, 2022 by webmaster

Coming fresh to the market in time for Christmas, is this wonderful painting from 1904. With the intense sunshine of a fine summer’s day beating down upon him, Cecil Round has captured a farmer at rest amongst the freshly cut crop of his corn field. While he enjoys a quiet picnic amongst the carefully stacked sheafs of corn, we see behind him the as yet unharvested crop that awaits his toil. In the background, the field disappears toward a wide river estuary upon which small sailing boats tack in the summer breeze, with hills rising beyond within the distant haze.

This oil on canvas painting has been signed and dated by the artist on the front, with the verso frame edge and label also inscribed: Golden Days of Summer. Measuring approximately 59 x 90 cm, this is one of Cecil Round’s larger paintings.

We are fortunate to have been contacted by the current owner of the painting, who kindly shared the image for our online gallery in 2020. As ever, we leave it to the collector’s own judgement in terms of determining valuation and price tag, whilst noting that we have no affiliation to the seller or to the auction sale.

The painting is being offered for sale via auction through The Cotswold Auction Company in Cheltenham, as part of The Christmas Sale on 13th December 2022. The painting is listed as Lot 65 of the sale catalogue and can be viewed HERE.

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On The Market… Greeting in Sicily

Posted on March 26, 2021 by webmaster

Many thanks to Philip Keith for contacting us from Rogers Jones & Co Auctioneers in Cardiff with news of their forthcoming Selections & Collections auction on 17th April 2021.

Included in the sale as Lot 501 is a wonderful painting by Cecil Round. Signed and titled on the verso, Greeting in Sicily, the oil on canvas painting dates from 1920 and depicts a very colourful scene: a young girl in summer dress, standing amongst the radiant flowers of a walled garden adjacent to the shoreline. With the sun casting reflection across the water, her left hand is held up shielding the intense sunshine in playful salute while, in her outstretched right hand, she waves what looks to be a white handkerchief or possibly one could surmise, the white paper of a personal letter. She does so in greeting to a pink-sailed dinghy, whose sole occupant approaching the Sicily shore, returns her wave.

The painting is being offered for sale via an online auction hosted by the auctioneers – you can view the listing HERE, noting that bidding closes on 17th April 2021.

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Happy 10th Anniversary

Posted on January 23, 2021 by webmaster

Today marks the tenth anniversary of our Cecil Round website. What started out as an online gallery of some twenty or so pictures, now includes seventy examples of Cecil Round’s work.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to contact us over the past ten years – your input, however large or small, has been a valuable contribution to our research.  As ever, the purpose of this website is two-fold: to celebrate the life of the man behind the art and to act as a clearing house for news and information relating to his work. As our research continues and new details come to light, we periodically update and expand the content of the site – any help you are able to provide, by supplying news, information and images of his artwork, will continue to be gratefully received and acknowledged.

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On The Market… Ruined Church at Stanton

Posted on October 14, 2020 by webmaster

On the market this month, is a delightful painting of Stanton St Gabriel Chapel. The ruins still stand on the cliff-top today and, provide a spectacular vantage point for views across Golden Cap to Lyme Bay, in Dorset. Painted in 1923, the medium is oil on board. Despite its relatively discreet size (25 x 36 cm) the subject remains attractive and draws the eye.

Stanton St Gabriel lies midway between the towns of Lyme Regis and Bridport and includes within its boundary, the Golden Cap, which is the highest cliff on the south coast of England. The setting is right in the heart of Cecil Round’s ‘painting country’.

In 1901, Cecil Round lodged with a harness-maker and his wife, at Lower Eype, near Bridport. He was actually living next door to where his mother had been born and where several relatives still lived. His mother and unmarried sister were also living together nearby, at 48 Bradpole Road in Bridport. As such, the Golden Cap would have been familiar to him and was the subject of more than one of his paintings.

Although it is not clear where Cecil Round was living in 1923, having extended family and a personal affiliation with the area would have no doubt drawn him back, even if he was by then as we speculate, possibly living somewhere in Devon.

Through our website, we were fortunate to have been contacted by the current owner of the painting, who kindly shared the image for our online gallery earlier this year (although we are in no way affiliated to them or to the current sale). As ever, we leave it to the collector’s own judgement, in terms of determining valuation and price tag. However, we are happy to direct you to the live online auction feed which is due to close on 23rd October at 10am (BST), HERE. Happy bidding!

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On The Market… Village Landscape With Cattle

Posted on August 28, 2020 by webmaster

On the market this month, we’ve spotted another Cecil Round painting being offered for sale.  The painting is being advertised at a fixed price and can be viewed HERE.  At the time of posting, we have had no contact from the owner and are in no way affiliated with them but are happy to share news of the sale, in case it might be of interest to other Cecil Round collectors.  As ever, we leave it to the collector’s own judgement, in terms of determining the valuation and price tag.

The painting comprises an archetypal rural English village scene, complete with distinctive church tower rising above a mixture of tile and thatch-roof cottages. Cattle graze the meadow in the foreground, against the backdrop of gently rising hills, on what appears to have been a warm and pleasant summer’s day.

In terms of subject matter features, although clearly a different village location, we note the similarity to Cecil Round’s painting of Abbotsbury in Dorset, under the title ‘A Perfect Summer’s Day’. Perhaps you recognize and can shed light on the location?

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On The Market… Trees in Landscape

Posted on February 20, 2020 by webmaster

On the market this week, we’ve spotted a Cecil Round painting being offered for sale through eBay.  The painting is being advertised as a ‘Buy It Now’ fixed price sale, rather than via auction and can be viewed HERE.  At the time of posting, we have had no contact from the owner and are in no way affiliated with them but are happy to share news of the sale, in case it might be of interest to other Cecil Round collectors.  As ever, we leave it to the collector’s own judgement, in terms of determining the valuation and price tag.

Being sold under the title, ‘Trees in Landscape’, it is an interesting composition as it depicts a row of up-turned, decomposing tree trunks alongside a stony path.  The trees appear to have been uprooted for some considerable time before Cecil Round painted them.  Having fallen away from the artist to expose their root structures, one would perhaps have quite reasonably expected to see a crater in front of each resting trunk, from where the immense tree roots would have originally been submerged?  But the ground is remarkably untouched – almost as if the trees were uprooted and somehow moved to their current resting place.  In the foreground, luscious vegetation sits alongside the upturned roots with no visible disruption to the ground; a young sapling, having sprouted between the roots of one of the stumps, has also already gained height and girth.  On others we see evidence of flora and fauna flourishing within the underbelly of the trees.

It is pure conjecture but, noting that the composition is dated 1885, could this be the painting that Cecil Round exhibited at The Royal Academy of Art in 1886 under the title ‘The path of the whirlwind’?  This might explain the unusual composition of uprooted trees, laid bare in rising formation across the gentle incline; possibly laid waste through having been in the path of a ferocious whirlwind. 

That said, with a canvas size measuring just 54 x 39 cm, this is certainly not one of Cecil Round’s larger works and one might have expected a more prominent canvas size, if he was show-casing his work at the Royal Academy.  Contemporary records of the exhibition are sadly lacking, with no indication of picture size or description of composition, let alone any catalogue reproduction of the work itself.  As such, clearly more detailed, professional research would be required in order to verify this conjecture for certain.  However, it is an interesting thought, perhaps worthy of further investigation?

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Spotlight 12: Authenticating Cecil Round’s Signature

Posted on October 1, 2019 by webmaster

Welcome to our twelfth ‘Spotlight Feature’.  As a change to our normal review, rather than concentrate on a particular painting, this month we thought a more general appraisal of the changing face of Cecil Round’s signature, might add real value to the authentication of his work and to the general conversation about his painting.

Firstly, we should reflect that some of Cecil Round’s earliest work, dates back to 1881 when he was just sixteen years old.  Unsurprisingly for someone who was painting over such an extended period (1881-1933), our research has uncovered many different varieties of Cecil Round’s signature over the intervening period, for us to review.

There appears to have been little consistency in terms of how Cecil Round signed his name – sometimes opting for ‘Cecil Round’, at other times, ‘Cecil M. Round’, sometimes ‘C. M. Round’ or even just ‘C. M. R.’.  As such, rather than concentrate on the differences, let us instead focus on the similarities between all of the various incarnations:

  1. The thick base and downward extension of the upper-case ‘C’, ‘M’, ‘R’ and lower-case ‘n’ characters (where applicable).
  2. The thick upward extension of the lower-case ‘d’.
  3. The thick downward extension of the second and fourth date digits (where applicable) but only on those numbers that can naturally be carried downward.
  4. The ‘X’ shape configuration of the ‘8’ in the dates of his earlier work.
  5. The full-stop dots that often follow the initials, surname and date, in later signatures.

[Here is a sample selection of Cecil Round’s signature, highlighting the common features.]The other area of commonality found with many artist’s signatures, is the location of its placement upon the board or canvas.  However, it is fair to say that we have found no consistency in terms of where Cecil Round signed his paintings – front, rear or both; top or bottom, left or right corner or centre-rear.  We’ve seen evidence of all of these locations or combinations thereof.  As such, we conclude that it is the five distinguishing factors we have highlighted above, in terms of the style (rather than the position) of Cecil Round’s signature, that are the best pointers to authenticity.

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