Rare painting will be Starr of the show at city gallery

Simon Bristow

A RARE painting believed to be one of the earliest works by Hull-born artist Sidney Starr has gone on display at the city’s premier gallery.

The full-length portrait of an unknown young woman, simply titled Study, is the latest addition to the permanent collection at the Ferens.

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It was painted in London in the 1880s soon after Starr finished training at London’s Slade School of Fine Art.

The picture was bought for 40,000 from London fine art dealers Nicholas Bagshawe, who acquired it in 2004 after it had been passed down generations of a family of Italian descent.

The gallery funded the deal with a grant of 18,000 from the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, 15,000 from The Art Fund, and 7,000 from the Ferens Endowment Fund, which supports the purchase of historic and contemporary art for the gallery.

Andrew Macdonald, acting director of The Art Fund, an independent charity launched in 1903, said: “The subtle yet arresting Study by Hull-born artist Sidney Starr is a real gem, offering an insight into Starr’s experimentation with light and form and the influence of Whistler.

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“The Art Fund is pleased to have helped bring it back to the artist’s home town for locals to enjoy.”

The painting, which shows a woman in a long coat and hat, has been hung on the balcony and will be formally unveiled today.

Starr (1857-1925) was a contemporary of leading British painters Sickert and Steer, and early in his career developed a close relationship with American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who exerted a huge influence on the course of late 19th century art.

Starr’s Study is painted in harmonious tones and appears to be a clear homage to the master.

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Starr was awarded the Slade Scholarship in 1874, and studied under Sir Edward Poynter and Alphonse Legros.

He won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889 for his painting of Paddington Station.

But after his early promise, Starr fell into relative obscurity, partly because of an affair with the wife of a powerful patron, and he emigrated to America in 1892.

There, he was commissioned to paint murals for Grace Church in New York, and a series of 24 panels for the Simmons Corridor of the Congressional Library in Washington, D.C.

Starr was also a member of the New York Watercolour Club.

He died in New York on March 3, 1925.

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Starr’s paintings are held in several major public collections in the United Kingdom and North America, including Tate Britain and the National Gallery of Canada. In an online guide Bagshawe described Starr as being of “considerable importance” to the history of British art.

The renewed interest in his work has been welcomed in his home city.

Coun John Robinson, portfolio holder for image and culture at Hull Council, said: “This is a wonderful addition to the city’s impressive art collections and the strong local connection makes it all the more exciting.

“Our thanks to The Art Fund and the V&A Purchase Grant Fund for their generous support.”

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