COLLECTORS

Explanatory Timelines Names Index First Owners

Joseph Hogarth (1801-1879)

Joseph Hogarth was an engraver, publisher, art dealer and picture restorer. He and his business associates are well documented on the internet. In 1854 he published '[Turner and Girtin's Picturesque Views, 60 Years Since]' edited by Thomas Miller.

He is of interest because at Christie's sale of 9th July 1864 he auctioned two JMW Turner oils and at Christie's sale of 14th March 1866 he auctioned two JMW Turner watercolour-drawings, all four paintings having been formerly in the collections of Rev. Robert Nixon of Foots Cray and later his second son Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania, who had five JMW Turners in his collection. The two oils were bought in but nonetheless analysis of the sales catalogue shows that one of the pictures, lot 152, was 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'.

• 9th July 1864 Christie's; Lot 151
  'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning'
• 9th July 1864 Christie's; Lot 152
  'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'
• 14th March 1866 Christie's; Lot 440
  'Shakespeare's Clift, Dover'
• 14th March 1866 Christie's; Lot 441
  'River Scene, View on the Dee' as 'On the Banks of the Dee'

The other watercolour-drawing from Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon's collection,

• 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath',

has not (yet) been found in Hogarth's possession.

In January 1863 Joseph Hogarth exhibited 'A Frame containing Six copies of Turner' No. 471 at London Photographic Society. [Search of sources for this exhibit.]

Joseph Hogarth, 'Hogarth Collection' and the Two Christie Sales 9th July 1864 & 14th March 1866

The 9th July 1864 catalogue did not specifically mention Hogarth but a Christie's e-mail of 4th November 2019 states that lots 151 and 152 were "part of the 'Hogarth' collection". The extent of the Hogarth collection at that sale is not known. The 14th March 1866 sale comprised exclusively the property of 'Hogarth' and the catalogue describes him as "the well known printseller, Mr. Hogarth, who has removed to Mount Street" thus confirming his identity as 'Joseph Hogarth' (1801-1879).

Rev. Dr. Francis Russell Nixon, Bishop of Tasmania owned five works by JMW Turner, all early works, inherited from his father, Rev. Robert Nixon. The Bishop returned to the UK from Tasmania arriving on 22nd May 1862. Four of his five JMW Turners have been shown to have been in the possession of Hogarth, two oils in 1864 and two watercolour-drawings in 1866.

In 1862 (when the Bishop returned from Tasmania) Hogarth's gallery was situated at 5, Haymarket, London. It appears therefore that Hogarth took possession of the four (or possibly five) Turners from Nixon between 1862 and 1864. There is evidence of disposal, by Hogarth, of two of of the JMW Turner watercolour-drawings from Nixon's collection, [Christie 1866-03-14 lots 440 & 441]. In 1866 Hogarth moved his business to 96, Mount St., Grosvenor Sq. where it continued until 1886. (when Hogarth died in 1879 his sons took over the business). Hogarth was a resident of West Drayton in 1874 [Post Office Middlesex Directory 1874]. In 1879, when he died, his personal residence is recorded as Paxton House, West Drayton [Probate]...[Printing Times & Lithographer, obituary]. [Paxton House, Station Road, West Drayton]

Hogarth is recorded as the seller (of lots 151 and 152) in Redford page 120, 1864 and the pictures are listed as:

• 'Waggon, Snowdon, early morning', and
• 'Hot Wells, Bristol.'

Hogarth is recorded as the seller in a Christie e-mail 11th April 2019 where it is said that lots 151 and 152 were:

• "part of the 'Hogarth' collection"

Hogarth is recorded as the seller on the front of Christie Sale Catalogue of 14th March 1866

• 'Engravings and Drawings of The well-known Printseller, Mr. Hogarth, Who has removed to Mount Street, Grosvenor Square. '

Joseph Hogarth Auction Sales - After 1862

The list is probably not complete and there were sales from the gallery for which we have no record.

The earliest that Joseph Hogarth could have bought Bishop Nixon's five Turners is 1862.

The two oils in the 1864 sale were bought in. There are two confirmed sales in 1866.

His probate was granted on 12th January 1883 so sales could have extended into 1883/83

Sales after 1862 are of interest:

1864-07-09 Christie (described above)

1866-03-14 Christie (described above)

1867-05-25 Christie Gainsborough 'Portrait of Tenducci' Lot 110 (source Redford page 41) In a Christie sale of 25th February 2009 this painting is sold with 'Galerie Hogarth and Sons' in the provenance. Hogarth's properties (in the 1867-05-25 catalogue as 'A Different Property' appear to consist of lots 76 to 125. Lot 76 is headed 'S. ROSA' - Bishop Nixon exhibited his own copies of two Salvator Rosa paintings in 1845; an unlikely but possible connection. Otherwise there are no Nixon references.

1872-06-08 Christie Gainsborough 'Portrait of Mrs. Marrable' Lot 97(source Redford page 42). Lot 97 appears in a section headed 'A Different Property' from Lot 63 to probably Lot 102 but 101 and 102 are lost in our copy. This looks like Hogarth's section and there are no lots in it resembling anything from Bishop Nixon's collection.

1874-07-04 Christie asco 35021; Linnell 'Abraham's Sacrifice' bought in; Oliver 'The Pet Canary' buyer Cox, and 'In The Wood' buyer Bartlett (source Redford pages 73 & 92)
Hogarth's section as 'A different Property' is lots 53 to 81 and there is nothing from Nixon's collection.

1879-07-22 Christie asco 39500 not scanned JMW Turner 'A Park Scene' dwg bought in (source Graves 23536)

1881-07-22 Christie asco 41265 Landseer 'The Old Hack' Lot 80 (source Graves 4306) and 'JMW Turner 'Lausanne' dwg bought in Lot 83 (source Graves 23622)
Hogarth's lots are 78 to 144 as 'A Different Property - Drawings' and there are no items from Nixon's collection.

Hogarth as Buyer and Seller in Redford

Redford's listings are arranged alphabetically by artist's surname. Here, buyers and sellers named as 'Hogarth' are placed in date order. There are some which relate to dates after Joseph Hogarth's death and may be his sons. There may be others that are not related at all. One of the points arising from the Nixon connection is the absence of 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath' which must have been sold because it was later in Sir William Richard Drake's collection; the earliest that Hogarth could have acquired it was 1862 so entries as 'seller' after 1862 are shown in red and these auctions will be studied to look for it.

Page numbers greater than 133 are watercolours.

• 1844; Page 7 Briggs; buyer
• 1845; Page 10 Callcott; buyer
• 1845; Page 130 Wilson; buyer
• 1845; Page 117 Stothard; buyer
• 1845; Page 26 Danby (F); buyer
• 1847; Page 13 Collins; buyer
• 1847; Page 14 Collins; buyer
• 1847; Page 65 Lawrence; buyer
• 1859; Page 65 Lawrence; seller
• 1859; Page 97 Phillips; seller
• 1864; Page 120 Turner; seller bought in (2 lots)
• 1867; Page 14 Collins; buyer
• 1867; Page 41 Gainsborough - Portrait of Tenducci; seller bought in
• 1868; Page 11 Callcott; buyer
• 1868Page 173 Stanfield; buyer
• 1869; Page 15 Constable - The Hay Wain, just a sketch; buyer
• 1870; Page 85 Müller; buyer
• 1870; Page 166 Penley; buyer
• 1872; Page 42 Gainsborough - Portrait of Mrs Marrable; seller bought in
• 1873; Page 90 Erskin Nicol; buyer
• 1873; Page 180 Turner; buyer (2)
• 1874; Page 73 Linnell; seller
• 1874; Page 92 Oliver; seller
• 1875; Page 180 Turner; buyer
• 1880; Page 184 Wheatley; buyer (Joseph Hogarth died in 1879)
• 1881; Page 47 Goodal; buyer (2 lots) (Joseph Hogarth died in 1879)
• 1881; Page 143 Cox; buyer (Joseph Hogarth died in 1879)

Joseph Hogarth's 1854 Sale

At an auction sale of Southgate and Barrett, 22 Fleet Street, 1854-06-07, a seventeen day sale, engravings were sold as the property of Mr. Hogarth of the Haymarket. Joseph Hogarth of 5 Haymarket, London is well documented on the internet and occupied this Haymarket address from 1845 to 1866.

Joseph Hogarth appears to be this collector.

Joseph Hogarth died in 1879 (registered Dec.1879 aged 77, Uxbridge). His sons took over the business which would account for the transactions after Joseph's death. The following extracts from his Wikipedia entry are relevant to his activities in connection with works by JMW Turner in Hogarth's collection:

Joseph Hogarth's Wikipedia Entry (Extracts)

Looking at citation 10, there is no 'sotherby.com' and we assume this is a mis-spelling of 'sotheby.com' which reroutes to a news site. The claim that Hogarth owned, inter alia, 'at least one painting by JMW Turner' is therefore unsubstantiated; however, we have found that auctioneer and gallery internet pages are sometimes changed or removed without explanation and it is likely that the compiler of this Wikipedia entry did see this comment on a page now removed.
Hogarth's National Portrait Gallery entry gives no references to his ownership of a Turner.

Bishop Nixon's Five Turners, Joseph Hogarth, the mysterious 'Battelines' and Sir William Richard Drake.

Table of Transactions: Nixon to Drake

In the Hogarth Sale of 9th July 1864

The Turners of the 'Hogarth Collection' (Christie's terminology) in the sale of 9th July 1864, lots 151 and 152 were in the first day's sale on the 9th. They were in a section of oils headed 'PICTURES' on page 15, starting at lot 103. The seller of lot 136, 'Barnes Terrace on the Thames' was recorded by both Redford and Christie's as 'Fripp' so it is certain that pages 15 to 22 (end of the first day's sale) (lots 103 to 172) were oils and originated from different collections. We can also be sure that Bishop Nixon's three JMW Turner watercolour-drawings did not appear in this sale. (see: Bishop Nixon's Five Turners)

Sir William Richard Drake owned 'The Country Waggon' and the Three Watercolours

It is also totally certain that Sir William Richard Drake bought 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning' and one of the watercolour-drawings, 'River Scene, View on the Dee'. It is also reasonably certain that Sir William Richard Drake bought 'Shakespeare's Cliff, Dover' (it was in his 1892 sale) and it is certain that he owned the other watercolour-drawing, 'Ruins of Sir Gregory Page Turner's House, Blackheath'.
However, from the table above it is clear that he did not get them all at the same time; he had 'View on the Dee' in 1871 and exhibited it, he would surely have exhibited the other two watercolours if he had them at that time.

No Direct Connection between Hogarth and Drake

This all suggests that Hogarth bought the Bishop's five JMW Turners and almost immediately put the two oils into the Christie's auction where they failed to sell then at a later date sold the three watercolour-drawings and 'The Country Waggon, Snowdon - Early Morning' which eventually found their way to Sir William Richard Drake. This begs the question of the fate of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'; was it also sold to Sir William Richard Drake, was it sold before Sir William bought the others or did Hogarth keep it for his own private collection? From an overview of Sir William's collection it is very unlikely that he would not have bought 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' if it had been offered to him with the others.
Then there is the complication of the intermediate mysterious 'Battelines' for whom we find no other references. Furthermore, Drake had exhibited 'View on the Dee' as ex Nixon in 1871 but in the sale of 1891 no history was included in the catalogue. (the same catalogue did show 'Country Waggon' as ex Nixon)

However, the transactions may have been more complex; Hogarth had no apparent reason to sell the two oils at auction so soon after buying them. So this may indicate for example, placing the pictures in the auction for Nixon (who had, by July 1864, moved to York) without actually buying them from him. In this scenario Hogarth may have bought the one he fancied ('The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol') for his own collection and returned the other to Nixon. But this is improbable because in 1866 Hogarth sold 'Shakespeare's Cliff' and 'View on the Dee'.

The only logical conclusion is that the four paintings made their way from Hogarth directly or indirectly to Sir William Richard Drake via different intermediaries, at different times; and that in itself is illogical!

Conflicting Information in The Art Journal

Then there is the record of 'Reynolds' cited as buyer in the Art Journal. This is most probably just a record of an unsuccessful bid. There were two Reynolds's buying in London at that time. FD Reynolds and FW Reynolds, both appear to be 'lifetime' collectors; neither of their executor sales showed any sign of 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol'.

Lot 101 on page 13 in the sale of 9th July 1864 was a watercolour-drawing 'A Sea View. Painted in the Artist's finest manner and of important size'. It is listed in a section, beginning on page 10, headed 'The Property of a Well Known Amateur'; this is not Hogarth, it is a different section. The art Journal calls it 'Sea View off Dover' and records the buyer as 'Webster' (the same buyer as 'Barnes Terrace on the Thames'). Redford lists this as 'A Sea View' seller Fordham, buyer: bought in.

There are two JMW Turner watercolour-drawings of the interior of Westminster Abbey at lots 27 and 28 (9th July 1864). These are in the first, unheaded, miscellaneous section we do not have sufficient information to identify the seller and they do not appear in the Art Journal report.

Joseph Hogarth May Have Repaired Damage In Transit Between Tasmania and London

Joseph Hogarth's business included many of the trades associated with visual arts; printmaking, framing, restoration. During Bishop Nixon's outward voyage to Tasmania some of his possessions were damaged. It is possible that damage was also suffered on the return voyage and if 'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' was damaged during the return journey Joseph Hogarth would have been a good choice to carry out repairs. This would add yet another level of complexity to the transaction and another possible explanation for separation of the pictures.

The Disappearance of 'The Rising Squall'

'The rising squall, hot wells, from St. Vincent's rock, Bristol' disappeared whilst in Joseph Hogarth's possession. It therefore seems very likely that he retained it, until he died, in Paxton House, West Drayton and that is where it remained.