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Hugh Thomson RI (1860-1920) A COLLECTION OF EIGHTY-SEVEN ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWA

Currency:EUR Category:Art / General - Paintings Start Price:NA Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 EUR
Hugh Thomson RI (1860-1920) A COLLECTION OF EIGHTY-SEVEN ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWA

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Auction Date:2011 May 30 @ 18:00 (UTC+1)
Location:Royal Dublin Society, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Dublin, ., Ireland
Hugh Thomson RI (1860-1920)
A COLLECTION OF EIGHTY-SEVEN ORIGINAL DRAWINGS FOR THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE
pencil on paper; (all unframed)
each work initialled; each with location/image identified; variously annotated with page instructions, dates and additional information



Literature:Hutton, Edward, Highways and Byways in Gloucestershire, MacMillian and Co. Ltd, London, 1932
The collection comprises eighty-seven original drawings in pencil which were used to illustrate Highways and Byways of Gloucestershire, published in 1932. The drawings were executed 1919 as indicated on the variously inscribed works. The dimensions of each vary between 11 by 8 and 8 by 5ins. approximately.
Thomson was born in Kingsgate Street, Coleraine in 1860, to John, a draper, and Catherine. His mother died at a young age and his father remarried. Thomson studied at the Model School staying with his aunt Jayne Hunter who lived on the Castlerock Road, Coleraine and who nurtured his interests in the arts. From here Thomson went to work as an apprentice for HA Gribbon & Sons, who owned a large linen factory on the Strand Road, Coleraine and he later trained at the prestigious printing and publishing company, Marcus Ward & Sons, in Belfast. In 1876, the 16-year-old left Coleraine for Belfast with his brother Richard, to work in the design department of the company. Thomson worked alongside artist William Morris under award-winning designer John Vinycomb. In 1883, Thomson travelled to London with fellow Coleraine artist AD McCormick. He worked for Macmillan & Co and Hyndman publishers and produced illustrations for late 19 century and early 20 century editions of works by leading literary figures, including Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and a number of new Shakespeare editions. Following the First World War, commissions for illustrations started to wane and in 1920, following an illness, Thomson died in Wandsworth, London. His legacy is maintained through the various titles he illustrated, and, more recently, his illustrations for JM Barrie’s play Quality Street, which are still reproduced on boxes of chocolates of the same name.

Thomson’s close connections with Coleraine and Kilrea have been dutifully maintained and celebrated. In 2007 the Coleraine Borough Council purchased a major collection of Hugh Thomson items comprising drawings, watercolours, early edition books and photographs for £150,000 to add to their collection. In 2010 The Coleraine Borough Council launched a major exhibition of the artist’s work, while the Coleraine Town Hall opened a Hugh Thomson Study Room within its walls.(For further reading see Snoddy pp.652-654)