The Orange Seller, Calle Conteros, Seville William Logsdail (1859–1944)

Description

A finely detailed late 19th-century oil on canvas by British painter William Logsdail (1859–1944), depicting an orange seller with his heavily laden donkey in Calle Conteros in the historic centre of Seville.

The composition centres on a dark brown donkey carrying substantial woven panniers filled with oranges and other produce. Beside the animal stands the vendor, apparently checking or arranging his wares. Logsdail carefully records the decorated harness, baskets, produce and clothing of the seller, while the surrounding whitewashed buildings, balconies, barred windows and flowerpots capture the distinctive character of a Sevillian street.

The location can be identified with considerable confidence as Calle Conteros, Seville. Significantly, the word “CONTEROS” is clearly painted on the building immediately above the figure.

An especially interesting comparison can be made with another 19th-century painting of the same locality: Manuel Wssel de Guimbarda's Rosquilla Sellers in a Corner of Seville, 1881, now in the Carmen Thyssen collection.

The Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga identifies the setting of Wssel de Guimbarda's painting as the junction of Calle Conteros and present-day Calle Argote de Molina. The street name CONTEROS is also visible within Wssel de Guimbarda's composition.

The comparison provides strong supporting evidence for identifying the location represented in Logsdail's painting. It is also an interesting record of how the same picturesque part of Seville attracted different artists during the late 19th century.

Please see Last photograph for Rosquilla Sellers in a Corner of Seville, 1881

Logsdail's composition concentrates closely upon the orange seller and his donkey. Particularly accomplished details include the animal's dark coat, decorated Spanish harness, woven panniers and carefully observed oranges and produce. These rich details contrast with the subdued whites and earth tones of the surrounding architecture.

Strong Andalusian sunlight illuminates the façades while the street and figures are modelled through areas of shade, giving the intimate composition a convincing sense of place and atmosphere.

The work combines architectural observation with a detailed record of everyday life in late 19th-century Seville, characteristic of Logsdail's accomplished realist technique.

Signed W. Logsdail lower right.

Presented in an impressive period gilt composition frame.

Artist

William Logsdail (British, 1859–1944)

William Logsdail was born in Lincoln in 1859 and studied at the Lincoln School of Art before continuing his artistic training in Antwerp under Charles Verlat.

He established a reputation for meticulously painted architectural and urban subjects in which precisely observed buildings were combined with figures and incidents from contemporary life.

Logsdail travelled extensively and spent considerable periods abroad. Venice became particularly important to his early career, while his travels also produced subjects elsewhere in Europe and the Mediterranean.

His particular strength lay in combining architectural precision with everyday human activity. Buildings and identifiable locations frequently play an integral role within his compositions rather than serving simply as decorative backgrounds.

This characteristic is particularly evident in the present work. By painting CONTEROS directly onto the building, Logsdail preserved a specific topographical detail that allows the location to be identified today.

Among his most celebrated architectural compositions is St Martin-in-the-Fields, 1888, depicting the London church and surrounding Trafalgar Square with extraordinary architectural and observational detail.

Later in his career Logsdail increasingly concentrated upon portraiture. He exhibited extensively during his long career and was elected to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1912.

Today his paintings are represented in public and private collections. 

Comparable Location (Last photograph) 

Manuel Wssel de Guimbarda (1833–1907)
Rosquilla Sellers in a Corner of Seville
1881
Oil on canvas
107 × 81 cm
Carmen Thyssen Collection

The Museo Carmen Thyssen Málaga identifies the location depicted by Wssel de Guimbarda as the point where Calle Conteros meets present-day Calle Argote de Molina.

The appearance of CONTEROS within both paintings provides an especially interesting connection between the two works and strong supporting evidence for the location depicted by Logsdail.

Style

British Realism / Victorian Genre and Architectural Painting / Spanish Romanticism

Signature

Signed W. Logsdail lower right.

Condition

Vintage condition with age-related wear consistent with the painting's age. 

Historic labels, inscriptions and markings remain to the reverse.

Please refer to the photographs for further details.

Frame

Presented in a substantial period gilt composition frame with moulded classical ornament.

Provenance / Labels

Historic W. Watson & Co., Bond Street, London trade label to the reverse of the frame.

Further historic numbers, markings and label remnants survive.

Notes

An especially interesting feature of this painting is its identifiable topographical setting.

The clearly visible CONTEROS inscription within Logsdail's composition, supported by Manuel Wssel de Guimbarda's independently documented 1881 painting of Calle Conteros, provides strong evidence for identifying the location.

Together with the surviving historic labels on the reverse, these details give the painting an unusually rich documentary context in addition to its decorative and artistic qualities.