Stanley Royle
Encyclopedia
Stanley Royle was a post-impressionist English landscape painter and illustrator
who lived for most of his life in and around Sheffield
(England) and Canada
. A member of the Royal Society of British Artists
, he was inspired by sweeping landscapes, sea and snow scenes.
), RBA (Royal Society of British Artists
), ARWEA, the grandfather of Anthea, Stephen and Lucy Copleston was Born in at Stalybridge
, Cheshire
- he had three sisters and a brother. In 1893 the family moved to Ecclesfield
, a rural outlying district of Sheffield in South Yorkshire
where his father became the stationmaster at Ecclesfield railway station.
His elder cousin, Herbert Royle, who was already a highly successful landscape painter, encouraged the young Stanley to pursue his interest in art as a career and in 1904 Stanley began studying at the Sheffield Technical School of Art. In 1908, he gained a scholarship, which enabled him to continue his studies at the art school. His earliest inspiration was his tutor, Oliver Senior, Painting Master at the art school, of whom he had a very high opinion, and who exhibited at the Royal Academy
.
His first employment was as an illustrator and designer for local newspapers. In 1911 he began exhibiting professionally in the UK and in 1912 the family moved to a house in Shiregreen, another rural suburb of Sheffield
. His first major success was to have three paintings accepted by the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1913.
, near Sheffield. She inherited this painting and it remained in her possession until 1992 when she sold it at auction.
Stanley Royle suffered from Bright's disease
and this prevented him from joining the forces in the First World War. In the same year that his daughter was born, his oil painting "Ploughing (A Fresh Morning: View of Mosborough from Renishaw)" was accepted by the Royal Academy
.
In 1916, the family moved to Priest Hill Farm on Quiet Lane in the Mayfield Valley, outside Sheffield on the edge of the Derbyshire moors. Stanley Royle was successful in having two major works accepted by the Royal Academy that year. His election to associate member of the Royal Society of British Artists
in 1918 indicated his increasing importance as a landscape painter.
By 1920, he had been elected a full member of the RSBA (Royal Society of British Artists
) and was teaching part time at the Sheffield School of Art. The family spent their summer holiday at Ravenglass
in Cumbria
which Jean, then five years old, always remembered with great delight.
In 1921, after having been married for 7 years, he was inspired to paint ‘Morning on the Derbyshire Moors’. In this oil painting he captures the remoteness of the moorland landscape by using the figure of his wife in the foreground to contrast against the wild and open spaces of the moors. His technique is impressionistic with almost a pointillist effect combined with broad sweeps of colour. The dress and bonnet Lily is wearing were made for her by her sister Frances who was an excellent seamstress.
Although Stanley Royle often used female figures within his compositions these were usually secondary to the landscape, which formed his chief interest. However, the three paintings ‘Spring Morning Amongst the Bluebells, ‘The Lilac Sun Bonnet’ and ‘The Goose Girl’ show single female figures prominently displayed in the foreground, whilst in later works figures give way in importance to the landscape.
. This quartet of paintings forms a significant part of the collection of Stanley Royle’s work in the Sheffield Galleries and Museums
. In 2005 one of this group, ‘Sheffield from Wincobank Wood’ was included in the Tate Modern’s
exhibition ‘A Picture of Britain’.
Living in an outlying rural district with limited public transport
did not prevent Stanley Royle from undertaking large, ambitious canvasses of significant landscapes, as shown by his study ‘From Yorkshire Hills to Derbyshire Hills, (Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust). Sometimes he would walk, but often cycle, to his chosen viewpoint, with all his painting equipment and canvas strapped to the side of his bike! Whilst painting his large moorland studies he would hide the canvas in a cave in order not to damage the wet paint by transporting it home.
It was Frances Goulding, Stanley Royle’s sister-in-law who was the subject of the much acclaimed oil painting ‘The Goose Girl’ now in the National Gallery of Ireland
. The setting is almost certainly Whitely Woods as by then the family lived close by. It was painted in the early 1920’s and was exhibited in both Glasgow
and Liverpool
in 1924. This work had been attributed to the artist William Leech
, until Jean Royle sold her aforementioned painting ‘Spring Morning Amongst the Bluebells’ in 1992 when it was recognised that the same artist must have produced both paintings.
In 1925, after resigning from the RSBA, Stanley Royle was elected an associate member of The Royal West of England Academy
. His success as a painter made it possible for the family to move to a newly built house at Park Head Crescent in Ecclesall and by 1930 he co-founded of the Sheffield Print Club.
, Canada. She visited Britain each summer, and eventually persuaded Royle to emigrate in December 1931, with his wife and daughter, to take up a post as a lecturer in painting there (the "Great Depression
" had made it impossible for him to make a living in the England). His daughter, then almost 17 years old, had already begun studying fine art at Sheffield Art College, and was in her second year there, when her studies were disrupted by the emigration.
Initially Stanley Royle taught at the Nova Scotia School of Art. However, although he was much admired by both his contemporaries and his students, his relationship with the Principal was never easy and in 1934 he was dismissed. The family returned to Britain and Sheffield in the summer of that year, but in 1935 he was offered a professorial post at Mount Allison University
in New Brunswick
, and so returned to continue teaching in Canada. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
now have one of the largest public collections of Stanley Royle's work. In 1936 he was made an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy.
During his time in Canada he produced dynamic studies in oils of the Rocky Mountains
and dramatic seascapes and coastal scenes which, with his snow and moorland scenes in Britain, form some of his finest works. Throughout his years in Canada he returned frequently to Europe during the long summer vacations, where he conducted painting tutorials on the Isle of Sark
, and in Dorset
and Derbyshire
.
Stanley Royle became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
in 1942 and in 1945 he and his wife returned to the UK where he sojourned with his daughter and family in Suffolk
before settling in north Nottinghamshire
. Many of his paintings emphasise the sky by making use of a low horizon, so Suffolk
, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
provided ideal subjects.
He and his wife returned to live permanently in Britain in 1945. On his return he acquired a motorbike and had removable carriers built for the pillion seat to accommodate his canvasses and paint box. Throughout the remainder of the 1940’s he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy and was elected president of the Sheffield Society of Artists in 1950. The Paris Salon
awarded him the Silver Medal in 1951 and the Gold Medal in 1955. During this decade he visited Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and again Brittany
as he found the lighting effects of maritime subjects particularly inspiring. Brittany was his last overseas painting expedition.
Early in 1961, he was diagnosed with liver cancer
and he died in March of that year. A memorial service was held at Worksop Priory
, Nottinghamshire and his grave is in one of the town’s cemeteries.
In 1962, the Graves Art Gallery
, part of the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
, held a major retrospective exhibition of his work.
In conjunction with the 1988 centenary travelling exhibition held in Canada, Patrick Condon Laurette, the Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, published a book in 1989 entitled ‘Stanley Royle (1888-1961)’. The next major publication solely dedicated to Stanley Royles' life and work was published in 2008, written by Timothy Dickson and published by Derwent-Wye Fine Art. It is an impressive lavishly illustrated publication which also includes a full catalogue raisonne of the artist work.
In 1995, his daughter Jean Royle bequeathed her collection of Stanley Royle paintings to the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
in order that future generations would have the opportunity of viewing, in one venue, the artist’s work. This is of particular value since so many of many paintings are privately owned, however there are paintings in Galleries in several British Collections including Rotherham, Oldham, Derby Art Gallery
and the Glasgow Museum.
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
who lived for most of his life in and around Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
(England) and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. A member of the Royal Society of British Artists
Royal Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.-History:...
, he was inspired by sweeping landscapes, sea and snow scenes.
Stanley Royle RCA, RBA, ARWEA, British landscape artist
Stanley Royle RCA (Royal Canadian Academy of ArtsRoyal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
), RBA (Royal Society of British Artists
Royal Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.-History:...
), ARWEA, the grandfather of Anthea, Stephen and Lucy Copleston was Born in at Stalybridge
Stalybridge
Stalybridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 22,568. Historically a part of Cheshire, it is east of Manchester city centre and northwest of Glossop. With the construction of a cotton mill in 1776, Stalybridge became one of...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
- he had three sisters and a brother. In 1893 the family moved to Ecclesfield
Ecclesfield
Ecclesfield is a suburb and civil parish in the City of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England, about north of Sheffield City Centre. At the 2001 census the civil parish— which also includes the Sheffield suburbs of Chapeltown, Grenoside, High Green, and formerly Thorpe Hesley —had a population...
, a rural outlying district of Sheffield in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
where his father became the stationmaster at Ecclesfield railway station.
His elder cousin, Herbert Royle, who was already a highly successful landscape painter, encouraged the young Stanley to pursue his interest in art as a career and in 1904 Stanley began studying at the Sheffield Technical School of Art. In 1908, he gained a scholarship, which enabled him to continue his studies at the art school. His earliest inspiration was his tutor, Oliver Senior, Painting Master at the art school, of whom he had a very high opinion, and who exhibited at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
His first employment was as an illustrator and designer for local newspapers. In 1911 he began exhibiting professionally in the UK and in 1912 the family moved to a house in Shiregreen, another rural suburb of Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. His first major success was to have three paintings accepted by the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1913.
The Royal Academy
As a young man he was a keen ice skater; on one visit to the ice rink he met Lily Goulding and subsequently, in 1914 they married, living initially with his parents in Shiregreen. It was in this year that he painted ‘Spring Morning Amongst the Bluebells’ which depicts his young wife standing amongst the bluebells and birch trees of Woolley Woods which were local to their home. He painted other versions of this subject, in which there is no figure, but this one, which was accepted by the Royal Academy that same year, was and remains the main example of this genre. Their daughter, Jean Royle, was born in 1915 at RidgewayRidgeway, Derbyshire
Ridgeway is a district of North East Derbyshire in the county of Derbyshire in England.-Location:Ridgeway lies just south of the South Yorkshire border, around 5 miles south-east of Sheffield City Centre.-History:...
, near Sheffield. She inherited this painting and it remained in her possession until 1992 when she sold it at auction.
Stanley Royle suffered from Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
and this prevented him from joining the forces in the First World War. In the same year that his daughter was born, his oil painting "Ploughing (A Fresh Morning: View of Mosborough from Renishaw)" was accepted by the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
.
In 1916, the family moved to Priest Hill Farm on Quiet Lane in the Mayfield Valley, outside Sheffield on the edge of the Derbyshire moors. Stanley Royle was successful in having two major works accepted by the Royal Academy that year. His election to associate member of the Royal Society of British Artists
Royal Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.-History:...
in 1918 indicated his increasing importance as a landscape painter.
By 1920, he had been elected a full member of the RSBA (Royal Society of British Artists
Royal Society of British Artists
The Royal Society of British Artists is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy.-History:...
) and was teaching part time at the Sheffield School of Art. The family spent their summer holiday at Ravenglass
Ravenglass
Ravenglass is a small coastal village and natural harbour in Cumbria, England. It is the only coastal town within the Lake District National Park...
in Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
which Jean, then five years old, always remembered with great delight.
In 1921, after having been married for 7 years, he was inspired to paint ‘Morning on the Derbyshire Moors’. In this oil painting he captures the remoteness of the moorland landscape by using the figure of his wife in the foreground to contrast against the wild and open spaces of the moors. His technique is impressionistic with almost a pointillist effect combined with broad sweeps of colour. The dress and bonnet Lily is wearing were made for her by her sister Frances who was an excellent seamstress.
Although Stanley Royle often used female figures within his compositions these were usually secondary to the landscape, which formed his chief interest. However, the three paintings ‘Spring Morning Amongst the Bluebells, ‘The Lilac Sun Bonnet’ and ‘The Goose Girl’ show single female figures prominently displayed in the foreground, whilst in later works figures give way in importance to the landscape.
The four major views of Sheffield
In 1922, he received a prestigious commission from Frederick Horner, a local art dealer, to paint four large views in oils of SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. This quartet of paintings forms a significant part of the collection of Stanley Royle’s work in the Sheffield Galleries and Museums
Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
Museums Sheffield is the new name for Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. It is a charity that runs council owned art galleries and museums in Sheffield, England. One of the trustees is His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. They run the following galleries and museums:* Bishops' House* Graves Art...
. In 2005 one of this group, ‘Sheffield from Wincobank Wood’ was included in the Tate Modern’s
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a modern art gallery located in London, England. It is Britain's national gallery of international modern art and forms part of the Tate group . It is the most-visited modern art gallery in the world, with around 4.7 million visitors per year...
exhibition ‘A Picture of Britain’.
Living in an outlying rural district with limited public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
did not prevent Stanley Royle from undertaking large, ambitious canvasses of significant landscapes, as shown by his study ‘From Yorkshire Hills to Derbyshire Hills, (Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust). Sometimes he would walk, but often cycle, to his chosen viewpoint, with all his painting equipment and canvas strapped to the side of his bike! Whilst painting his large moorland studies he would hide the canvas in a cave in order not to damage the wet paint by transporting it home.
It was Frances Goulding, Stanley Royle’s sister-in-law who was the subject of the much acclaimed oil painting ‘The Goose Girl’ now in the National Gallery of Ireland
National Gallery of Ireland
The National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
. The setting is almost certainly Whitely Woods as by then the family lived close by. It was painted in the early 1920’s and was exhibited in both Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 1924. This work had been attributed to the artist William Leech
William John Leech
William John Leech was an Irish painter.-Biography:Leech was born in Dublin and studied there at the Metropolitan School. He later transferred to the Royal Hibernian Academy and studied under Walter Osborne...
, until Jean Royle sold her aforementioned painting ‘Spring Morning Amongst the Bluebells’ in 1992 when it was recognised that the same artist must have produced both paintings.
In 1925, after resigning from the RSBA, Stanley Royle was elected an associate member of The Royal West of England Academy
Royal West of England Academy
The Royal West of England Academy is an art gallery where Queens Road meets Whiteladies Road, in Bristol, England.- History :The Academy was the first art gallery in Bristol. Its foundation was financed by a bequest of £2000 in the will of Ellen Sharples in 1849, and a group of artists in...
. His success as a painter made it possible for the family to move to a newly built house at Park Head Crescent in Ecclesall and by 1930 he co-founded of the Sheffield Print Club.
"The Depression" and Canada
1930 and 1931 were particularly hard financially, and in order to survive Royle took a post as illustrator with the "Sheffield Independent" Newspaper. For several years he had privately taught a pupil who was the Principal of the Nova Scotia College of ArtNova Scotia College of Art and Design University
NSCAD University also known as the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, is a post-secondary art school located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada....
, Canada. She visited Britain each summer, and eventually persuaded Royle to emigrate in December 1931, with his wife and daughter, to take up a post as a lecturer in painting there (the "Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
" had made it impossible for him to make a living in the England). His daughter, then almost 17 years old, had already begun studying fine art at Sheffield Art College, and was in her second year there, when her studies were disrupted by the emigration.
Initially Stanley Royle taught at the Nova Scotia School of Art. However, although he was much admired by both his contemporaries and his students, his relationship with the Principal was never easy and in 1934 he was dismissed. The family returned to Britain and Sheffield in the summer of that year, but in 1935 he was offered a professorial post at Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
in New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
, and so returned to continue teaching in Canada. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is the provincial art gallery for the province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the central downtown region of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with a branch gallery in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia....
now have one of the largest public collections of Stanley Royle's work. In 1936 he was made an Associate Member of the Royal Canadian Academy.
During his time in Canada he produced dynamic studies in oils of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
and dramatic seascapes and coastal scenes which, with his snow and moorland scenes in Britain, form some of his finest works. Throughout his years in Canada he returned frequently to Europe during the long summer vacations, where he conducted painting tutorials on the Isle of Sark
Sark
Sark is a small island in the Channel Islands in southwestern English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. It is a royal fief, geographically located in the Channel Islands in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of laws based on Norman law and its own parliament. It has a population...
, and in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
.
The Royal Canadian Academy of Fine Arts
Snow scenes were amongst Royle's favourite subjects because of the light reflected off the snow and the subtleties of colour thus created. He considered the winter landscape to have more colour than at other times of the year. His daughter described how he would wear knee-breeches, and knee length lace-up boots, which were warmer than Wellingtons, to paint ‘plein-air’ snow scenes.Stanley Royle became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
The Royal Canadian Academy of Arts is a Canadian arts-related institution founded in 1880, under the patronage of the Governor General of Canada, Sir John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, the Marquess of Lorne. Canadian landscape painter Homer Watson was a member and president of the Academy...
in 1942 and in 1945 he and his wife returned to the UK where he sojourned with his daughter and family in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
before settling in north Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
. Many of his paintings emphasise the sky by making use of a low horizon, so Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
provided ideal subjects.
He and his wife returned to live permanently in Britain in 1945. On his return he acquired a motorbike and had removable carriers built for the pillion seat to accommodate his canvasses and paint box. Throughout the remainder of the 1940’s he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy and was elected president of the Sheffield Society of Artists in 1950. The Paris Salon
Paris Salon
The Salon , or rarely Paris Salon , beginning in 1725 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. Between 1748–1890 it was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the Western world...
awarded him the Silver Medal in 1951 and the Gold Medal in 1955. During this decade he visited Ireland, Scotland, Cornwall and again Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
as he found the lighting effects of maritime subjects particularly inspiring. Brittany was his last overseas painting expedition.
Early in 1961, he was diagnosed with liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
and he died in March of that year. A memorial service was held at Worksop Priory
Worksop Priory
Worksop Priory is a Church of England parish church and former priory in the town of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham....
, Nottinghamshire and his grave is in one of the town’s cemeteries.
In 1962, the Graves Art Gallery
Graves Art Gallery
Graves Art Gallery is in the centre of Sheffield above the Central Library and close to the Millennium Galleries. It shows permanent displays from the city’s collections of 19th and 20th century British and European art as well as a programme of temporary exhibitions.The collection encapsulates the...
, part of the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
Museums Sheffield is the new name for Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. It is a charity that runs council owned art galleries and museums in Sheffield, England. One of the trustees is His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. They run the following galleries and museums:* Bishops' House* Graves Art...
, held a major retrospective exhibition of his work.
‘Plein-air’
Stanley Royle had a full and academic knowledge of every aspect of painting and it is this, combined with his extraordinary ability to capture the atmospheric quality of natural lighting on the landscape that makes his paintings so satisfying to the viewer. He thought nothing of pitching his easel in the middle of a stream and standing knee deep in water, whatever the weather, if that gave him the view he wanted to capture. He did not like the harsh lighting effects of the midday sun as it flattened the subject, but preferred early morning or mid to late afternoon and evening light.In conjunction with the 1988 centenary travelling exhibition held in Canada, Patrick Condon Laurette, the Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, published a book in 1989 entitled ‘Stanley Royle (1888-1961)’. The next major publication solely dedicated to Stanley Royles' life and work was published in 2008, written by Timothy Dickson and published by Derwent-Wye Fine Art. It is an impressive lavishly illustrated publication which also includes a full catalogue raisonne of the artist work.
In 1995, his daughter Jean Royle bequeathed her collection of Stanley Royle paintings to the Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust
Museums Sheffield is the new name for Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust. It is a charity that runs council owned art galleries and museums in Sheffield, England. One of the trustees is His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. They run the following galleries and museums:* Bishops' House* Graves Art...
in order that future generations would have the opportunity of viewing, in one venue, the artist’s work. This is of particular value since so many of many paintings are privately owned, however there are paintings in Galleries in several British Collections including Rotherham, Oldham, Derby Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
and the Glasgow Museum.
Further reading
- Patrick Condon Laurette. Stanley Royle, 1888-1961 (Art Books Intl Ltd., 1989)
- Timothy Dickson. Stanley Royle - A Catalogue of His Works (Derwent-Wye Fine Art). ISBN 978-0-9559965-0-4