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The Trees, RunswickThe Trees, Runswick
Oils on board, 8¾"x11". Bears label verso: 'I, Alice Senior, widow of the late Mark Senior, certify that the sketch to which this label is attached is the work of my late husband. 1927.' I find this picture very intersting to compare with Mayor's work. Both seem to work on the sky last, painting it on top of the trees when, of course, it is really behind them. Lower down we look through branches to the sea at Runswick on a bright Summer's day. The figure of a fisherman can be seen crouching in the shadow at the base of a tree. It is painted in Senior's typical palette. 
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Price:  £6,950.00 


The Beach, Runswick
Watercolours, 10"x14". Bears label verso: 'I, Alice Senior, widow of the late Mark Senior, certify that the sketch to which this label is attached is the work of my late husband. 1927.' This is a true conoisseur's picture. It is breath-takingly beautiful with its build-up of subtle washes which can be appreciated either as a whole or as part of the painting as an abstract work, exploiting the juxtaposition of related colours and tones. It reminds me of a piece of classical music with its complex and repeated themes. The price is for the pair. 
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Price:  £2,650.00 
 The Beach, Runswick


The BeachThe Beach
Watercolours, 10"x13½". One of a pair. Both bear label verso: 'I, Alice Senior, widow of the late Mark Senior, certify that the sketch to which this label is attached is the work of my late husband. 1927.' Provenance, with the artists wife, then his son George, by descent. Both exhibited in the Mark Senior exhibition organized by Wakefield Art Gallery and Museums in 1983 (nos. 37 & 38) and both illustrated on pg.38 of the catalogue for this exhibition. The price is for the pair. 
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Price:  £2,850.00 


Borrowby
Pair to 'The Beach' above. The price is for the pair.
 
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Price:  £2,850.00 
 Borrowby


Mark SeniorMark Senior
Mark Senior was born in Hanging Heaton on the outskirts of Batley, the son of a blanket weaver married to the daughter of a retired woollen manufacturer. Mark and his sister Emma were brought up by his maternal grandparents, his parents and other siblings living next door. He attended Wakefield School of Art in the early 1880s, and received typically Victorian instruction, drawing from plaster casts of classical statues. He also attended classes at the Slade where he studied under Legros, who introduced him to French realism and Philip Wilson Steer, who became a life-long friend.

In 1886 he married Alice Brooke, whose father was a wealthy cloth manufacturer from Ossett, and the family settled in the town. In the early 1890s he used to rent a cottage in Runswick Bay from just before Easter until October. In 1919 he bought land from the family of one of his pupils, Gertrude Hudson, and had a house,
Hillside, built in Runswick.

While staying in Runswick, Senior painted exclusively in that village and its very immediate hinterland. His only connection with Staithes itself was to buy kippers brought from there to Runswick and as a founder member of the Staithes Art Club.

His style is very distinctive, making use of broad brush-strokes and intense
colours. Light, shadow and movement play an important part in his work. He often worked on a small scale as a plein air painter, but worked on his larger paintings in either his studio in Runswick or one in Leeds where he worked during the winter. As well as painting in oils, he also produced some fine work in pastel, using closely packed lines of colour to build up his image and the tones within it.

Mark Senior was a founder member of the Staithes Art Club in 1901 and was elected a Council Member of the Yorkshire Union of Artists in 1908. His work can be seen in public galleries in Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Whitby. He
exhibited at the Royal Society of Artists Birmingham, the Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, the Goupil Gallery, the International Society, the Walker Gallery
Liverpool, Manchester City Art Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Royal Scottish Academy and the Yorkshire Union of Artists. Wakefield Art Gallery and
Museums organised a retrospective exhibition of his work in the city in1983.


Bibliography:
Mark Senior 1862 - 1927, Wakefield Art Gallery and Museums, 1983
Staithes Group Centenary Exhibition, Rosamund Jordan 2003
The Staithes Group, Peter Phillips, Phillips and Sons, Marlow1993
The Yorkshire Union of Artists 1888 - 1922, Dennis Child, Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Ltd, Leeds 2001
The Dictionary of British Artists 1880 – 1940, J. Johnson & A. Greutzner, Antique Collectors’ Club, Woodbridge 1976

Thanks to Mrs.Mary Oddie OBE for additional information.

© Rosamund Jordan 2003